Sweet Decadence!
by Dr.Dawdler
Summary: (fem!Komatsu POV) A "what-if" retelling of the series where Komatsu is a female. One day an aspiring chef met a lone blue haired man. He gave her hope and relit a dying passion she held deep within her heart. She soon embarked on many adventures with him and quickly realized that the world was incredibly beautiful but also painfully cruel.
1. Enter Toriko, The Gourmet Hunter!

**Sweet Decadence!**

 **A/N:** I know there are a bunch of fanfictions of female Komatsu, and honestly this idea has been rolling in my head for a while. It will follow the manga pretty closely (kinda?). I know the fandom seems a little dead so I don't expect a lot of readerships. But if you do read it, please drop a review! I appreciate any criticisms and feedback!

Please Enjoy!

P.S Apologies for the poor grammar, English isn't my first language.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Enter Toriko, the Gourmet Hunter!**

* * *

 _Someone once said..._

 _That there were beasts with marbled meat that melted on your tongue._

 _That there were tender and densely packed lobsters and king crab meats that grow on trees all year round._

 _That there was a fountain from which amber-colored brandy gushes out endlessly..._

 _People are enchanted by unknown delicacy!_

 _This is the gourmet age; the age of seeking out unknown tastes!_

* * *

Delicate plates and glasswares clinked together into a sweet melody. Komatsu observed Hotel Gourmet's customers chewing vigorously while humming in pleasure. A sigh of satisfaction bubbled up from her. Part of the reason why she loved cooking was so that she could see the look of happiness on her customers' face as they enjoy the meals she cooked for them.

"Oh! Chef!" A man wearing a monocle called out.

"Ah! Yes?" She quickly scrambled to the man's table. There was a pudgy woman, with red hair pinned up in a large bun sitting across from the man.

"Are you the Head Chef?" The pudgy woman asked.

"Y-yes, I hope you're enjoying today's special." Komatsu smiled nervously, hoping the answer would be nothing but positive.

"It's absolutely fantastic! We've been coming to this restaurant for the past four years now, and we have never been disappointed! Compliments to the chef." The man smiled while the woman nodded along.

Komatsu felt a flush of heat tingling her cheeks, "Th-thank you!" she bowed in a 90-degree angle; her lips stretching into a wide grin.

"Ah, we are so happy you enjoyed the food." A new voice spoke out.

Komatsu turned to see her General Manager, Smith. "Manager?"

"Komatsu, you're needed upstairs in the boardroom," Smith said in a hushed tone before smiling back to the couple.

"Oh, okay." Komatsu said before she turned back to the sweet couple, "please enjoy the rest of your food, the dessert today is the triple vanilla cake made from the Vani-pods off the east coast." She could see the couple's eyes shining brightly at the mention of today's dessert. She chuckled before bowing once more and leaving the dining hall with Smith.

* * *

"Manager, you're sweating." Komatsu pointed at the beads of sweat forming on Smith's temple.

"Oh shush! The IGO director wants to see us. And you know how crazy that man is with his full head of hair!" Smith snapped irritatingly.

Komatsu laughed sheepishly as she knew her manager had always been a bit too self-conscious with his inevitable balding.

They finally entered one of their many boardrooms, and immediately a strong fragrant scent of lavender and rose hit her nose. Yup, that was definitely the IGO director, Uumen Umeda, gracing them (or rather their nose) with his presence. He was sitting at the end of a long table while flipping through multiple files. Even while indoors, he was still wearing his sunglasses. Of course, that was one of the many things that were off about the director.

"N~~ have a seat, have a seat! We don't have all day you know!" Umeda said while ushering them to the seats next to him. He flipped his black bob haircut, and she could hear a soft whimper from Smith. _Hair complex_ , something she couldn't relate.

Once Komatsu and Smith were settled into their seats, they patiently waited until Umeda finished reading what appears to be a report. After shuffling papers and files around, Umeda finally spoke with his weird vocal quirk. "N~~I think you guys already know this, but we have an upcoming Gourmet Parley, and we finally looked at your proposed menu."

"Oh! Wonderful!" Komatsu chimed in, she could feel her fingers tingling and her eyes widened at the thought of cooking the food they have suggested. "What did you think about the menu, director?"

"N~~chef, the IGO leaders from various countries will be attending this event, including our boss, the president."

 _Yikes,_ she knew it was going to be fancy but didn't realize that all the big wigs from the IGO Corp would be attending as well.

"N~~" Umeda continued, "so I noticed you chose the _White Haired Cinderella Cattle Fillet Steak_."

"Yes!" she replied, "That main dish was chosen bec-" Umeda's hand shot up, and she immediately clamped her mouth shut.

"NON! Chef!" Umeda shrieked. "This isn't some common person's drinking party at the Gourmet Garden you know." Umeda twirled the ends of his hair with his index finger, "I want something with more PIZZAZZ!"

 _Pizzazz?_ She thought dejectedly. What does that even mean? "Y... yes sir..." She bit her lower lip before she finally said, "but that's the highest quality meat we can prepare here at the moment... so I don't know what we can do with more... uhm... _pizzazz,_ director."

"Hmmm." Umeda stroke his 5 o'clock beard before he snapped his finger. "Couldn't you get some _Galala Crocodile_ meat?"

Smith leaped out of his chair, "Ga-Galala Crocodile?"

She quickly piped in right after, "That's the world's highest-ranking crocodile meat!"

"Be-begging your pardon, Bureau Director..." Smith's voice was quivering before clearing his throat, "that's an impossible order to fulfill."

"Hmm? Are you saying your chefs are incompetent?" Umeda looked directly into Smith's eyes, and she could see Smith shirking back into his seats.

"Manager..." She was worried that they would lose their contract of hosting the Gourmet Parley if they misspoke. After all, the IGO Corp had more than a 100 Hotel Gourmet that could easily host this event.

"No." Smith's voice was hard and confident. "My chefs are one of the most talented chefs I have ever seen. We can definitely cook the meat; it's just obtaining the meat that is the problem."

She could feel a small prick in her eyes, Smith was probably the first manager that didn't treat the lower tier chefs like tools. She was touched by hearing her manager speak with pride regarding the chefs of IGO Hotel Gourmet.

"Ohohoho!" Umeda laughed, "Is that all?"

"i-is that all?" both Komatsu and Smith repeated dumbly.

"N~~ Galala Crocodiles are a capture level of 5. Even if we requested a tank, we may not be able to bring one down."

"..." She was speechless. So what was the director suggesting they do?

"There's little choice I suppose." Umeda sighed, "it will take some money, but we'll make a request to a Bishokuya."

Smith got out of the seat once more. "Is there a bishokuya that can take down something of the Galala Crocodile class?"

She could only think of one Bishokuya strong enough to take something on like the monstrous crocodile. After all, his face was plastered all over Gourmet town as one of the top classes of Bishokuyas. "Do you mean Toriko-san?"

"OUI!" Umeda said while giving her a thumbs up.

"Oh...uhm, so when will Toriko-san be able to bring the meat to us?" She asked.

"You tell me, Head Chef!" Umeda said.

"Huh...?" She stared at the director before looking at the manager.

"As the head chef in charge of this amazing, splendiferous, event. You should be the one to ask Toriko." Umeda chimed lackadaisically.

"B-but... I never spoke with Toriko-san, and I don't know how to contact him, and, and..."

"It's okay Head Chef Komatsu-chan!" Umeda began to shuffle through his files before pulling a paper sheet out. "That's the one!"

"Ah... but..." her mind was spinning; she could never speak to a superstar like Toriko-san. Besides, she didn't even know what kind of person Toriko-san was. Whenever they showed him on Gourmet TV, he was either shown carrying large carcasses of rare meats or just eating food.

"Here you go Head Chef Komatsu-chan!"

She took the sheet of paper and written on it was Toriko's address- no, more like the coordination points! He didn't even live in the city? Reading further, there was the amount the IGO Corp was willing to pay for his services. There was more information she would have to read thoroughly, but her thoughts got interrupted by Umeda scraping his chair across the floor.

"Well, my job is done!" Umeda spoke out. "I look forward to hearing the good news, Head Chef Komatsu!"

"Only the good news...?" She looked back at the cursed sheet in front of her. Oh dear, she really hoped Toriko say yes to this request.

"Chef Komatsu."

She looked up and saw Smith giving her a thumbs up.

"Aha..." Komatsu laughed nervously and gave a shaky thumbs up in response.

* * *

Komatsu got off work, but everything still felt like a blur. She entered her apartment and dropped her keys into a bowl. She kicked off her shoes and tossed her apron on the couch.

She heaved a heavy sigh before plopping down on one of the dining table's chairs. The manager told her to rest up and to leave bright and early to meet with Toriko tomorrow morning. She needed to check the map before driving into the boonies. "Honey! I'm home!" She called out.

 _Silence._

"Honey?" She called out again. That was weird; usually, her fiancee would be home by now.

She got out of the chair and went into their bedroom. Perhaps he was tired and slept early today? She turned on the lights to see a perfectly made queen-sized bed. There was a note on the bedside table. She walked up to the note and picked it up. "Huh? What's this? Did he go on a business trip and forget to tell me?" She giggled at his forgetfulness. "Guess he has a lot going on too?"

She started to read the note, and slowly her placid smile melted.

 _Dear Komatsu,_

 _It's not you, it's me._

 _I just feel that this relationship has gone stale and can't imagine being married to someone who clearly will choose their job over love every time._

 _I want to explore the world still and figure out my life._

 _I'm sorry._

 _All the best -_

She crumpled the note before she finished reading the last line.

"W-wait. This must be a dream right?" She pinched her cheeks lightly and felt a small sting. She stared down at the crumpled up note in her hand. She gently placed it back on her bedside table.

She stared at the floor, only the clock ticking accompanied her. How long has she stayed in this position, she didn't know. Her hands trembled as she took off her engagement ring and set it down next to the crumpled note.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

The clock kept ticking on.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

At one point she laid in her bed and closed her eyes.

The next time she opened her eyes, sunlight shone brightly through her windows. She rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes. She turned her head to the bedside table.

The crumpled note was still there.

She slowly got up from her bed. She dragged her feet and saw the time as she exited her bedroom.

"Ah, I have to get ready to meet Toriko-san..." she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She peeled off her chef uniform from last night and sat in the hot shower until her fingers started to prune. When she got out of the shower, the cool air embraced her hot skin. Droplets of water slid off her body. She stood before the full-length mirror, stark naked. Already she started to point out her imperfections, not a big enough breast, too wide of a nose, too short and pudgy for _his_ liking, not long enough hair as it only reached to her shoulders, the list went on.

She gently touched her reflection's face. "Why aren't you crying?" she asked her reflection.

The reflection just shook her head. _"It's because this is already your 5th failed relationship. Why even bother?"_

"I really thought he was the one." Her voice quivered.

The reflection just smiled bitterly, _"Yup. That's what you always say."_

"I really thought he loved me."

 _"That's what you said last time too."_

"I was willing to..." her voice choked, "give up my dreams for him."

"..."

"Why...did he leave me?"

 _"It's always the same thing, isn't it? Being a bore. Too invested in your job. Probably a bore in bed too."_

She chuckled bitterly at the last reason. Her eyes started to burn as it rimmed with incoming tears. "I-I have to go and do my job..."

 _"I know. That's the reason why they all left you."_

She hugged herself as she bit her lower lip. Finally, tears cascaded down her face. She slinked down to the floor on her knees. "Get a hold of yourself, Komatsu. E-everything will be okay. You still have a wonderful job and..." She couldn't think of anything else other than her job as a chef. She wiped her tears away. She had a job to do. Everything else can wait.

When she tried to stand up, she collapsed back down once more. "Uuu..." Even though this wasn't her first break up, it still hurt the same. She thought she was used to this feeling of abandonment by now, but she wasn't. "Uuu..." She whimpered before her voice got louder and her heart sank lower.

She finally cried all the tears that were left unshed from yesterday.

She cried until her eyes couldn't shed any more tears. She ended her emotional burst with a small sniffle before she finally got a hold of her reality once more. She still had an _important_ job to do. She _had_ to push this feeling far back into her mind. She finally got enough strength to stand back up. She looked back at herself in the mirror and cringed at her now puffy and red eyes. Thank god for makeup and eye drops...

She walked to her closet, now a half-empty closet with _his_ belongings all gone. She skimmed through her outfits. A navy blue office jacket, a white blouse, and a matching skirt. She brushed her wet hair and contemplated putting her hair in a ponytail or just leaving it down. Well, she always put her hair up when she was cooking, so for today, she will just let her hair be. She naturally reached out to put on the engagement ring before stopping herself. She stared at the gold band with a small diamond. She picked up her ring and slipped it into her jacket's pocket.

She checked the time. "Ah! It's already quarter past 9!" She ran to the door and picked up her car keys.

She got into her small silver car, input the coordinates into her GPS. It was just 30 minutes outside the city. That wasn't too bad of a drive.

"Alright! Let's bring some good news to the Manager and the Director!"

* * *

The way to Toriko's place wasn't terrible. When the road ended, there were still dirt paths for her car to follow.

She could see a house in the distance. "Ah, that must be Toriko-san's house!"

She got out of the car and was in awe of Toriko's house. His whole house was made of candy! Making a house out of edibles was crazy expensive and it could spoil if not eaten quickly. She smelled the sweet milk chocolate when she came up to the door. She knocked on the melting chocolate door, and bits of chocolate got on her knuckles. She desperately wanted to lick it off to know what grade of chocolate the door was made of. But she needed to restrain herself in case Toriko opened the door.

She waited a minute, then five minutes, and finally, after ten minutes she concluded he wasn't home. _Just great, on the day_ _I_ _come to meet Toriko-san, he's not even home!_ She sighed and licked the chocolate off her knuckles as her only consolation. It was pretty damn good chocolate.

She walked back to her car with a heavy heart. The party was this coming up weekend, she supposed she could try coming by after work tomorrow. Her hand hovered over the car's handle. The only option is to go back home. Suddenly, she felt queasy thinking of going back. She looked up at the sky and white puffy clouds were lazily strolling by.

She had time to kill, so perhaps it wouldn't hurt to just search for the bishokuya in case he was around the premise.

She started walking west of Toriko's house until she entered the small forest. She marvelled at the sight of fresh Dimpleberries. She was surprised to see they were in season right now. She kept walking on until there was a clearing of foliage up ahead. She finally stepped out of the forest and someone was out there fishing!

A man was sitting on the rock next to a small Cigar tree. He had electric blue hair and was wearing a white t-shirt with the sleeves rolled all the way up to his shoulders. Even while sitting, his body was wide, and she could see his defined muscles.

"T-Toriko-san?" She called out.

The man in question just looked on ahead. He had at least a 15 feet pole with a rope around it stuck in the ground next to him.

"U-uhm, Toriko-san?"

No answer.

Perhaps, he was the silent brooding type? There was no way a superstar like Toriko would pay any attention to some lowly no-name chef like her. Wow, she was going through a lot of depressing train of thoughts today. She shook her head in an attempt to clear any negative thoughts clouding her mind and finally cleared her throat to start her proposed deal.

"Toriko-san. I am the head chef employed at IGO Hotel Gourmet. I'm here to offer a contract to you. We have a party next weekend, and we are in need of some assistance to capture the Galala Crocodile." To her dismay, he hardly budged from his seat. He really was making the whole situation more nerve-wracking. "Uhm, anyway, as for the rewards, it is a rate of 100,000 yen for each kilogram and 500 kilograms for a full body. We will make it a deal for 100 million." The amount of money the IGO was offering was huge, but this was the Galala Crocodile. She wouldn't be surprised if he asked for a higher amount.

Suddenly, he reached out to grab a lobster from his icebox. He took a bite and she could hear the hardy crunch of the lobster's shell breaking. He then reached into his icebox once more and grabbed a bottle of what looked to be bourbon. He karate-chopped the bottom of the glass bottle and it sliced off cleanly. Before a single drop fell, it all went down his throat. _Holy, he just drank a_ _whole bottle of_ _50% bourbon in one shot!_ She felt her lips parted in amazement. He then reached out to the small Cigar tree next to him and ripped off a branch. Normally, the manufacturer would crush the cigar branches and mix it in with different herbs as the taste of tobacco from the cigar tree was potent.

However, Toriko just puts the branch of the cigar tree in his mouth, and with a snap of his finger, it produced sparks to lit the cigar branch. _"_ Wah!" She yelped in amazement. What kind of man was Toriko?

"Hm? What is it?" A deep baritone voice finally spoke out. He finally looked at her while smoking the cigar branch. He paused before finally saying, "Who the hell are you?"

"Ah... no... uhm..." She was speechless. She never met a person who could do any of the feats he just showed her. _Wait! He didn't even notice me!_ She smiled sheepishly, seriously what kind of man was Toriko?

"Well?" He asked.

"Ah! Right!" she squeaked, "uhm, I just..." it was hard to get back on track especially after she mustered all of her courage to say her small speech. "M-my restaurant wanted to hire your service to capture a Galala crocodile. The price is the rate of 100,000 yen per kilogram and 100 million for the full-body..."

"Hoh..." He hummed, "A Galala Crocodile, eh? Depending on the parts, I could at least get 500,000 yen for one kilo on the retail market... like the leg for example."

"Ah... yes..." She had an inkling of a feeling that this was the beginning of a rejected offer.

"So the customer isn't just for anybody, huh?"

"Ah.. yes! You see, this is for a party and-" She said before she got interrupted.

"Well, whatever. It's probably for those IGO idiots." He said nonchalantly.

"Haha..." She laughed nervously; she couldn't believe he just called one of the biggest corporations leading the gourmet food trade _idiots._

"Let me say this now; there's no way I can capture this beast alive," he said.

"Yes..." She looked down at her feet to accept the rejection before she realized that it actually didn't sound like a rejection. "Ah wait, do you mean you accept the proposal?"

KHHRK.

An unpleasant screech rang in her ear. She noticed the metal rod being bent towards the body of water.

"Oh! Is it here?" He turned his full attention to the bent metal pole. With one pull, a large beast sprang out of the water. "HERE IT IS!" He yelled in excitement.

"UWAHHH!" She screamed in surprise. The beast was at least the size of a moving truck, if not larger. "That's a... That's a _Crawdad Fish_!" A fish with crab-like claws as arms. "It's HUGE!"

"Ca-Caw!" A wild bird that was the same size as the fish came swooping down with its talons out and readied itself to steal Toriko's catch. It grabbed the fish and began to pull.

"UWAHH!" Komatsu screamed in fright, as she put her hands out in reflex.

"Bastard," he smirked before he squatted while swinging the pole down to the ground. Komatsu had a short glimpse of the two beasts before it flew over her head and came crashing down behind her. The ground beneath her shook from the impact and she would not be surprised if the two beasts died from the collision. She turned around, and her mouth opened wide in awe.

"HAHAHAHA, and I even got a _Five-Tailed Stellar Sea Eagle_ with it! Talk about two birds with one stone!"

 _Amazing_ , she stared at the large beasts freshly caught by the blue-haired bishokuya.

"This is a great fishing rod, ain't it?" He said.

"Ah yes...it's very... erm... strong," she said lamely as she was still in shock of what just transpired.

"It's a 76-millimetre iron reinforcing bar with an elevator wire wrapped around it. Its maximum tensile strength is about 40 tons...I wouldn't have much trouble hooking a small whale with this thing!" He ended his explanation with a boisterous laugh.

She was dumbfounded. _Actually_ _, the fact that you can swing that thing around so easily is what's impressive, Toriko-san._ She looked back at the caught beasts... or rather ingredients. The feather of the Eagle ruffled from the light breeze. The iridescent scales from the Crawdad fish gleamed from the afternoon sun. She could feel her eyes watering a bit. Being able to see the ingredient, and being able to see the hunting process, she felt a sudden feeling of deep _respect_ for the ingredients she handled every day.

"By the way..." He snapped Komatsu out of her thought. "A Galala crocodile would break this apart like wooden chopsticks! You get that it won't be an easy capture."

"Y-yes..." She agreed awkwardly.

He smiled at her with a wolfish grin. "If you get that, then tell your boss... I'll take double that reward."

"D-double?"

"And I'll even capture it alive."

"Eh...alive?" she said, "but didn't you say that it was impossible to catch it alive?"

He laughed and said, "I meant that 200 grand per kilo isn't worth it! Without that incentive, there's no reason to capture it!"

"I-I understand. I will talk to my superiors about it." she sweatdropped, _so it was all about his motivation to capture it or not. What a strange man._

"All right! I think I'll try to hook one more thing before I go!" he said.

"Eh?!" She looked at the two giant beasts behind her. "But what about those two? The Crawdad fish and the Sea-eagle?"

"They're dessert! Now I'm going to fish for the main course, a swamp shark."

"D-desert?" She was floored, _just how much can this man eat?_ "wait, did you just say a... swamp shark...?" She felt a cold chill; swamp sharks are known to be very big and very aggressive. But then again, their meat was known to be-

"Delicate." He finished her thought.

"Huh?"

"Their meat is known to be delicate," He repeated.

She felt a small smile tugging at her lips. "Y-yes! A-and making rice porridge with their meat is quite complimentary. Actually, on my way here I saw some ripe dimple berries and if you add them in the porridge with a pinch of volcanic rock salt, the taste becomes much deeper, and richer, and..." she stopped her rambling and felt her cheeks burn. "Ah...sorry. Haha, I tend to go on a tangent about food. Please s-stop me if I go off like that!"

He smiled widely before picking up his fishing pole. He karate chopped a piece of the fishing pole. "you wanna fish too?" He tossed the small piece to her and she clumsily caught it. "You, what'd you say your name was?"

"Ah... my name is Komatsu." She was staring at the broken fishing pole, and one end was still steaming from where Toriko cut it off. Her eyes bulged out with her mouth opened yet again. _Didn't he say the maximum tensile strength was 40 tons? She_ was, again, questioning if Toriko was human.

He managed to salvage the bait from the Crawdad fish's mouth which was now a half-eaten Mega Grasshopper. He reinforced the knot around the bug and threw the bait back into the waters. He sat back down on the small stone seat. She looked back down at her makeshift fishing pole. She remembered the empty apartment room that was awaiting her.

She walked up to Toriko's crouched figure before sitting next to him. "Hoh, so you're going to try to compete with me for the Swamp Shark?" He grinned.

"Well, first I need some bait and fishing wire," She said while pointing to her bare short pole. _And like I can compete with you for a swamp shark. I would be lucky to catch a baby moss minnow with_ _my strength_ _._

"I have just the thing," he said, before rummaging the side pocket of his icebox. "Ah, I only have the regular fishing wire left."

"I'll take that," she said.

"Eh... but a Swamp shark will eat right through this."

"Haha... Toriko-san, I don't think I have enough strength to capture a swamp shark."

He looked at her arms before laughing. "You do have pretty thin arms."

She tied the fishing wire around her pole. She looked into the icebox and saw a small shrimp. The water was also slightly murky, so a fish more her capture level would probably have a hard time seeing it... _that's it!_ She fished out the engagement ring from her pocket and tied it next to the shrimp.

"Eh, you're going to put that ring in the water? It looks expensive." He said.

She looked at the ring filled with her memories of _him._ "It looks expensive, but _it's worthless_ _now_." And so she threw her ring along with her memories into the water.

A moment of silence between them before he finally spoke, "Komatsu."

"Yes?"

"I head out tomorrow."

"Huh?" _So soon?_ She looked back at Toriko who was still focused on the water before him. "Ah...okay." She better informed the director tonight about the raised price. She guessed that it would be rude to leave right now, so she decided to fish until sundown before taking her leave.

* * *

The next morning, Komatsu woke up and raided her closet for her camping gear. She found a pair of black hiking boots. She also found khaki coloured survivor pants with a dark forest green jacket. She decided to wear a white crewneck top under it. She brought out her old camping bag and packed it with essentials as well as a canteen to fill it with water.

She was going to accompany Toriko today to capture the Galala Crocodile. Perhaps she was being crazy, and maybe she was. She thought long and hard about yesterday and remembered the ingredients that were captured fresh. Something about seeing the way the ingredients were before they were cut up and processed moved her deeply. It was a feeling of deep renowned respect or something. She couldn't describe what this feeling was yet. She was hoping to find out more if she went on this trip with Toriko.

But she would be lying if the break up wasn't partially the culprit for her motivation. Everyone who was with her always said the same thing, which was being a bore. Perhaps that was true as her life was nothing but routine. She would come home from work and she would always be tired so she would go straight to bed. She only talked about her job, as nothing existed for her except cooking. But cooking was her passion. She realized that perhaps breaking up was a blessing in disguise as she knew deep down that she couldn't give up cooking for anyone else. However, that being said, she did want to see beyond the four walls of her kitchen. Just like her ex-fiancee, she wanted to try this ' _figure out my life'_ shit.

In conclusion, she was crazy. She would definitely be regretting her decision as soon as she sets out. But the present Komatsu was all for it. She wanted to follow her feelings first.

She was at the pier searching for the large blue-haired man. This was the only place where there were boats close enough to Baron Marsh. Wait, was Toriko going to go there by himself? Was it possible that he already left? "Augh!" She scratched her head in frustration; maybe she should've told Toriko she wanted to go with him so they could meet up instead of her trying to find the eccentric man at the crack of dawn.

"Is that you Komatsu?"

"T-Toriko-san!" She turned to see a familiar face.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. He wore his usual white shirt, and orange slacked pants fastened with a black belt. He held a sack slung over his shoulder.

"I want to come with you," she said.

"What?" He said with a shocked expression; this was the first time Komatsu saw Toriko make such a face.

"Ah sorry for such short notice, Toriko-san." Her gaze fell to Toriko's black laced up boots, "I have an order from the higher-ups to investigate the ecology of the Galala Crocodile." _Well, it was a small white lie._ Komatsu felt a tad guilty. There was no way she could tell Toriko she wanted to go soul searching. That sounded way too cheesy.

"You know where we're going, right?" He asked again for confirmation.

"Y...Yes..." Suddenly Komatsu's logical side started to churn slowly, and seconds later she started feeling a very familiar sensation called regret. "T-The Baron Marsh, it's a specified danger zone."

He grinned, "Hoh... well, anyhow, I hope you left a will."

"Aha... ye-" She said before she stopped, _Wait did he just say will?_ She could feel the cold sweat forming between her brows. "Wait, wait, I haven't left any!"

Toriko was already walking away and towards a boat with a man already on it. "Hey Tomu, thanks as usual," Toriko said as he threw the sack into the boat.

The man named Tomu wore a hat that had the word GOURMET printed on it. He had black wavy hair that reached the end of his neck. He wore black sunglasses that covered a nasty scar that ran vertically across the left side of his face. "You better thank me! I don't have time to always be on standby to bring my boat out. You know!"

"Don't be like that!" Toriko said light-heartedly, "how's your wife, Kami-san?"

"Ahhh, quit it," Tomu said as he started to wind up the excess rope. "She's furious since the gourmet tax went up again."

"Sounds scary," Toriko said before hopping onto the boat.

Komatsu's rubbed the back of her hand in hopes to ease her troubled heart. She let out a small whimper realizing the terrible choice she may have just made. A will? He wanted to make sure she had her will written? Was she going to die? She didn't even tell her mom that her engagement was called off. Maybe she shouldn't have argued with the manager about taking today off. She should've just went back to work, standing at her usual station, and cooking meals that she knew from the back of her hand. But she was going on this trip because she wanted something more of her life... right?

"Hey, Komatsu!" A voice woke her back to reality. "If you're coming, get on quick." Toriko ushered her with his usual easy-going smile.

"Ah... ah!" she smiled sheepishly, "should I write my will first?"

"Write it on the boat! It'll be fine!" He said.

"Ah! Yes!" She said before she stepped onto the rocky boat. She stretched her arms out to help steady herself. She felt a warm, gentle hand on one of her arms.

"Careful!" He said as he helped her get into the boat.

"Th-thank you." She bowed, she felt the tip of her ears tingling a bit.

The boat's engine revved up, and in a few seconds, they were off to Komatsu's grave, or rather, Baron Marsh.

Toriko seemed to be relaxed enough despite talking about how dangerous this crocodile was. He reached into his sack and pulled out three champagne bottles. He popped all three and downed it all at once.

Tomu yelled from the driver's seat, "Oy! Champagne before work? Leave me some too!"

"This is just an appetizer!"

"Haha, you're crazy man!" Tomu said, before finally locking eyes with Komatsu. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask... Who's that little lady over there? Your girlfriend?" She felt her face heat up from his remark. "Could've picked a better dating spot than Baron Marsh, Toriko!"

"Nah!" Toriko laughed, "this is Komatsu, and she's the client. She just wants to try dying once."

"I-I didn't say anything like that!" she quickly retorted, "plus you can _only_ die once, Toriko-san!" She added as an afterthought.

"Client?" Tomu gruffly said, "Wahahah, there are some pretty curious ones eh?"

Both men on the boat laughed, while she was quickly regretting her decision by the second.

"Well Miss, I will say that even if you're hurt, if you have worker's compensation or whatever, you won't get a dime!" Tomu laughed again, "Designated danger zones aren't covered by insurance. So if you kick the bucket, it'd be considered the same as suicide!"

She clutched her stomach, and her fingers started to get a bit numb. "I-I don't feel too good..." She grabbed a piece of napkin and a pen from her knapsack. "Maybe I really should be writing a will..."

"You were brave... that's what I'll tell your bereaved family." Toriko snickered along.

"I-I haven't died yet, Toriko-san!" She whined as she clutched her napkin closer to her chest.

Toriko only laughed heartily in response.

A couple of minutes past before Toriko settled back into his seat. Komatsu looked at the eddying wave caused by the boat's engine. She heard a rustle behind her and glanced back to see Toriko with a Striped Salmon. He took a big bite and munched away in bliss.

 _This guy has been doing nothing but eating since yesterday. She_ thought as she peered inside the sack Toriko brought on board, _that sack is filled with food. My god..._

She was mesmerized by how much Toriko could eat and drink, so she just stared in awe.

"By the way, Komatsu! What place do you work at?" Toriko asked in between his bites.

"Eh?"

"A high-class hotel? A high-end Japanese restaurant? I'll go eat there next time, so let me know!" He said before finishing the tail end of the salmon in one gulp.

"A... uhm..." She couldn't recall if he ever listened to the part where she did mention about being a chef in her small speech when she met him yesterday. Maybe he was listening after all! "Ahaha, Toriko-san was listening yesterday after all!" She scratched the back of her head while laughing shyly.

"Huh? Yesterday?" He stared blankly.

"Huh?" She stared blankly back.

"I knew because there's a strong scent emanating from your hands."

She stared at her hands, and took a small sniff and could only smell the faint vanilla hand cream she applied on this morning.

"You mean the vanilla hand creme?" She asked.

"It's a different smell. A smell that only gets ingrained in hands if they handle raw ingredients every day. Plus I can smell the various oil and spices, so right off the bat I knew you were a chef." He gave her a cheeky grin, "am I wrong?"

"N-no... you're not wrong... but why a high-end restaurant?"

"Like I said, it's the smell."

"E-eh? B-but I haven't touched any raw ingredients yesterday or today."

"Mhm, let's see." Toriko shuffled closer to her. He gently grabbed her hand, and she could feel the calluses on Toriko's hand. He brought her hand near his nose, and somehow she started to feel self-conscious of her body odour. She could feel the heat rising to her cheeks as Toriko concentrated on her hand.

A few seconds passed, "T-Toriko-san..." her voice was shaking, she was starting to get embarrassed from this position.

"Toro eel." He finally said.

"Eh?"

"Neptune Whelk Fruit, Red Haired Pig..." He took another small sniff, "even the oil is high grade like Mellow Oil... all the smells on your hands are those of ingredients you don't find in ordinary restaurants."

"A-amazing..." he figured out every single ingredient that she used two days ago!

"Wahaha," Tomu piped in, "Toriko's sense of smell is better than that of a police dog!"

"Am I right?" Toriko's face was close to her face, and she couldn't hold his gaze for any longer than a second. She focused on the three scars on his face.

"Uhn." She meekly answered.

Toriko let her hand go, and she brought her hot hand close to her chest. She could feel her heart drumming away in a frenzy.

Toriko seemed unfazed as he leaned back on the boat's rail. He reached into his sack and brought out a huge rice ball that was the size of her torso. He took a huge bite, and it was already a third gone.

She stared at her hand, and back to Toriko munching away at his rice ball. She knew that smell was extremely important in gauging taste. Was this what it means to become a pro bishokuya? She couldn't contain the small excitement crawling down her spine, she really wanted Toriko to eat some of her dishes. Someone with a sensitive palate can taste the full range of what the ingredients had to offer. Toriko finally finished the last bite of his riceball with a satisfied smile on his face. She wondered what sort of face Toriko would make if he tried her cooking. She hoped it would be the same face he was making now.

"So...?" Toriko said.

"Huh?" She replied dumbly.

"Where do you work?"

"O-oh!" She forgot that was his original question, "I-I'm still very inexperienced!" Wait, wait, why was she feeling so self-conscious suddenly? "But, I've been given the position of Head Chef at the Hotel Gourmet."

"OHH!" He remarked, "That's a 5-star hotel!"

He swung his arm around her small frame. Her head was now resting on his chest. _Oh my god. Oh my god. To-too close!_ Her poor heart couldn't take this much skinship!

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Toriko's voice boomed, "Treat me to a full course meal sometimes, alright?"

"Y-yes, of course." She squirmed uncomfortably, "ah, that is if I survive this trip." she laughed nervously, hoping the morbid joke would soothe her heated cheeks. She never realized how _friendly_ he was. She thought at first that he was a bit obnoxious and loud, but at the same time, there was a certain charm that kept dragging her back to him. She wanted to know more about him. She wondered, was he curious about her too?

"T-the truth is, Toriko-san..." She was no longer in control of what she was saying, "the reason why I came along with you, wasn't because it was an order from the higher-ups." Her voice was growing meek, would Toriko call her crazy? Would he laugh at her stupidity? "I-it was my own idea for the most part..." She started to feel a surge of confidence because what she was about to say next was something she truly believed in. She looked up at Toriko, and she could feel her lips stretching into a wide smile, "as the head chef at the hotel...becoming a first-class chef is my dream!" More and more, her feelings popped and hummed with happiness. She hadn't talked about her ambition after she was engaged. "To do the best cooking with the best ingredients, so I won't be an embarrassment to this Gourmet Age. For that goal, I want to do whatever it takes to see top-class ingredients in their natural environment." She looked up to the blue sky with only a few wisps of clouds marring the open sky. "When high capture level game is delivered, it's already been broken into clumps of meat."

Her gaze fell back into her hands that were resting on her lap. She remembered when she first shared her dream, her goal, with her fiancee. He laughed at her saying that after they marry, she should be focusing on child-rearing. She laughed painfully alongside him trying to convince herself that it was a silly dream after all. But that feeling of renewed hope and passion was ignited when she met Toriko yesterday and saw the ingredients in their true natural form. Her voice barely audible, she managed to finally confess her feelings from yesterday, "Seeing you hunt yesterday, Toriko-san... I... was truly moved. S...So I decided that I wanted to go with you today, even if it's dangerous..." She finally looked up to Toriko, "B-because-!"

What greeted her sight was Toriko going back to eating something from his sack.

"Oh! This Almond Cabbage is delicious! So crunchy and sweet!"

She was dumbfounded for the nth time. "O-oy... are you listening to me?" Before she burst into a light giggle, somehow this was so like Toriko that she couldn't be angry about this at all.

She settled back into silence, kind of glad that Toriko didn't hear her goal... or rather dream.

"I don't see anything wrong with that," he said.

Wah, he actually did hear her after all. Her cheeks started to warm up, but she managed to sputter out her question, "T-then you don't think that my dream is silly?"

"Why would I think that?"

Her chest tightened, "D-do you think I can achieve this dream?"

"Wahaha, if you really want it then you probably will."

She looked back down to the floor; her vision started to get blurry. Perhaps Toriko was just saying whatever she wanted to hear, but he would never know how much she was going to treasure his words.

"If there's no time like the present, then any time after would just be the wrong time."

"Eh?" She looked back at Toriko smirking.

"I'm saying, if you have a vision, you should act on it right away." he popped the last remaining bit of the almond cabbage in his mouth. She stared at his cheek moving and finally saw his adam apple bob up then down. He wiped his lips with his forearm. "Well... let's set aside whether or not meeting me was _lucky_ or not for now."

That was true as she realized that perhaps she should first try to survive her first adventure with him. But before her very possible death, since she confessed her embarrassing dream, she wanted Toriko to share his dream with her too! "Uhm, Toriko-san?"

"Hm?"

"M-May I ask what your dream is?"

Without missing a heartbeat, he answered, "I'm making a menu."

"A menu?"

"Yea, a full course menu." A full course menu was one's own specialized menu that was equivalent to a biography. "Springs of melting cheese, flowers that bloom chocolates, sandpits of rice, wine waterfall..." Toriko's eyes softened at the mention of his dream, "the world is still flooded with more delicious things. My full course menu is still nothing but blanks, but someday I will definitely complete it." He looked back at her with a boyish smile, "Maybe the Galala Crocodile might be the one?"

 _Wow, Toriko's full course menu...I... I would like to try it one day... but it sounds pretty expensive._ Komatsu wishfully thought.

"Heyyy!" Tomu yelled out, "the island's in sight."

The island was surrounded by protruding rocks. She could only see the murky looking greenery on the island.

"Heh. The southernmost tip of Baron Archipelago, Babaria Island." Toriko stated.

"Uwah... it looks very...eerie..." she whimpered. "And...there's a huge number of rocks here... we can't bring the ship any closer..."

"This reef is called Baron fence. It surrounds the Baron Archipelago like it's meant to keep intruders out." Toriko turned to Tomu, "regardless of the rise and fall of the tide; there's only one route to get through this reef." Grinning, Toriko said, "and our captain just happens to know it."

"Hehe." Tomu chuckled, "Hold on tight!" With a rev of his engine, the boat started to speed up. He took a sharp turn, and she tumbled over to the sides of the boat.

"Uwah!" She yelped. _Ow! My elbow!_ Suddenly the boat jerked to the left, and Komatsu felt her body being pulled to the right. "Ugeh!"

"Since it's a narrow route, only small ships under 20 tons can pass through it." Toriko nonchalantly informed.

Meanwhile, she was using all her strength to not be flung around like a doll. _How can Toriko-san still be standing perfectly still with all of this rocking?_ She thought. Suddenly the boat came to a stop, and she fell face first onto the deck. "Ugh...ow..."

"Here we are." Tomu finally said. It was music to her ears. "This is Baron Archipelago's sole entrance. It's a mangrove tunnel nicknamed 'The Ogre's Mouth.'"

She finally pulled her body up to see the sight. It was very intimidating, to say the least. There was only one straight pathway and they were surrounded by towering mangrove trees. Their roots jutted out of the waters like fingers curling in, beckoning them to enter through their forest only to never return. She gulped, starting to feel that perhaps this trip really was a bad idea after all.

"All right!" Tomu said, "let's cut right through here!" The engine started to rev up again, and Komatsu braced herself for another impact.

"Tomu!" Toriko called out, "this is far enough, could we get off the boat here?" The boat's engine sputtered out much to Komatsu's relief.

"Ah?" Tomu questioned, "What's this all of a sudden?"

"The air of this island is strange. I can smell it..." Toriko looked back at Komatsu and then to Tomu with a stern look, "the smell of trouble."

Tomu just sighed while Komatsu started to shiver in fright. "Alright, alright. I'll get you guys a small inflatable boat."

"Thanks, Tomu." Toriko said.

Tomu brought out a mechanical pump, and the yellow raft started to plump up to life. "So when do you need me to pick you guys up?"

"You can pick us up tomorrow morning, the same place," Toriko said, as he gathered the rowing oars.

The raft was dropped down to the waters, and Toriko stepped on which gave in a bit under his weight. "Hm, Komatsu I have to sit in the middle or else the raft will sink on my side." Toriko laughed heartily.

"O-okay, Toriko-san." She quickly replied. Toriko reached his hands out for her to take; she took it with gratitude. Her footing was a bit off, and she was about to fall into the waters. "Uwak!" She closed her eyes, and slowly opened them when she realized two strong arms encircled her.

"Wahaha, you don't want to go swimming with these fishes. They're all quite vicious." Toriko said.

"Ahaha...I don't think I want to go swimming in these waters at all." She awkwardly said, "Uhm... thank you." his arms left her body, and suddenly she felt smaller and colder.

He sat down with an oar in each hand. She sat facing Toriko and realized she was between his opened legs. To make sure she didn't take up too much space, she hugged her knees to her chest.

"I wish you good food luck Toriko, and Miss." Tomu saluted with a smile, and he started to turn his boat back slowly.

"Thanks again, Tomu!" Toriko called out. Toriko began to row the raft through the "Ogre's Mouth."

Komatsu could hear the chattering of various animals she couldn't name. Occasionally, she could hear the mangrove branches snapping and creaking. Her body wouldn't stop quivering. Even though the climate here was hot and humid, she felt a cold chill running down her body. _I knew it, I really shouldn't have come._ She thought in agony. A loud shriek was heard to the left and her body jerked and she grabbed the edge of the boat. They were surrounded by the mangroves with animals lurking in the darkness. They were basically sitting ducks in the water.

Memories of yesterday's conversation with the IGO Director plagued her mind. She had met Umeda after she met Toriko that same night. She had told Umeda of Toriko's proposal of taking the request if they raised the pay.

 _Umeda easily agreed. Komatsu didn't leave right away after the report; she was trying to muster enough courage to ask permission to join Toriko with his hunt._

 _She took a deep breath and finally looked into Umeda's eyes... or sunglasses. She could see her own nervous face reflecting in those black lenses. "Uhm...sir... I-I would like to join Toriko tomorrow ... if-if I may?" She shut her eyes waiting for the resounding 'NON.'_

 _"N~~ Hey, Head Chef Komatsu-chan."_

 _"Y-yes?" Komatsu squeaked out._

 _"I think you're aware, but the IGO establishes 'capture levels' on wild beasts. It truly reflects the degree of difficulty there is to bring down the beasts."_

 _She nodded and stood silent._

 _"For example, for capture level 1 beasts, you could assume that it will take ten pro-hunters with shotguns to be able to take it down."_

 _"A-and the Galala Crocodile..." Her words got caught in her throat._

 _"Yes, the Galala Crocodile is at least a Capture level of 5. A level that Toriko-chan can take down if he tries."_

 _Her mood brightened from hearing of the high chance of success. But, Umeda turned his back to her and stared down at the busy streets of Gourmet Town through his giant window. She could still see his frowning face from the window's reflection._

 _"However, I heard some unsettling news." He said._

 _"U-unsettling news?"_

 _"The Galala crocodile is said to be able to live for at least 150 years generally, but it has characteristics of its appetite and ferocity that gets proportionally stronger with age." He adjusted his sunglasses before continuing, "and since it naturally has a weak reproductive ability... it may be for the sake of preserving the species, but data has shown that the life-spans of these guys are extending each year." He finally turned his head and looked right at her, "Now, it's said that a 300-year-old Galala Crocodile may exist!"_

 _"3-300 years..." She knew what that inferred. If they grew aggressive the longer they lived, then she couldn't fathom how scary that crocodile could be._

 _"If the data shown is correct, then considering their special characteristics, the Galala crocodile would probably not be a capture level of 5." He finally fully turned his body towards her with his hands linked behind his back. "As I said, I don't mind doubling Toriko-chan's reward, and I don't mind that you are going with him as a head chef...but it would be a shame if such a talented head chef like you are to be met with an unfortunate accident."_

She had at the time did not think too deeply about Umeda's warning. After all, she had kind of acted on impulse without thinking of her safety.

Komatsu was reminded of the awful conversation and how real Umeda's warning is now starting to feel.

"KOMATSU!" A loud voice boomed in her ears.

"Huh?" she was awoken from her daze, and she was greeted with Toriko's face barely an inch away from hers.

"U-UWAH!" She screamed as she fell back.

"Hahaha, are you starting to regret that you came?" He asked with a mischievous smile plastered across his face.

"N-no... no-nothing like that," She spectacularly failed at lying.

"Hoh?" He grinned, and she knew that he didn't believe her words at all. "Well, we're here now, get off."

"Huh?" She looked around, and they were finally on land. "Oh, yes, yes, right away." She scrambled to her feet and quickly got off the raft.

He tied the rope around the raft and began to drag it as he walked deeper into the woods. She followed suit. It was only a short moment before there was a cacophony of wild animals screeching and barking altogether. "Wow... it's really...active..." she remarked lamely.

"These are the voices of the wild beasts. The island does have a short dry season, but it's basically a tropical area."

GYAAAHHHHH

"Wah!" She jumped in fright. She couldn't believe that it was an animal noise. It sounded like someone was getting murdered.

Unfazed, Toriko continued his explanation, "On the Baron Archipelago alone, there exist about 200,000 species."

"Two-tho hundred thousand?" She gawked.

"Yup. And the one king that reigns over them is none other than the Galala Crocodile."

Suddenly, she remembered the warning Umeda gave her before she ventured off. She looked down at her feet, why didn't she warn Toriko about this new information? She should tell Toriko of the possible danger. Maybe it's not too late to back out? "Uhm... Toriko-san...I heard-"

"Wait! Stop Komatsu."

She froze in her spot and looked up to see a snarling Baron Tiger looming over Toriko. Toriko was a very large man, but the tiger was at least three feet taller than him. "BA-!" Her voice got cut, she could only breathe just to keep herself barely conscious.

One moment the tiger was ready to eat them, the next the tiger mysteriously ran away from them while whining.

"H-huh? What just happened?" She asked.

"Like I thought, something's strange." He said while picking up his pace, "the Baron tiger is a beast that usually lives deep in the marsh." He looked back, "it's the same with the Friday Monkeys."

"Friday Monkeys?" She didn't remember seeing them.

"The Friday monkeys were on the rocks around the Baron reef. For cowardly monkeys famous for spending their entire lives in caves to be in a place like that..." His concern started to frighten her even more. "The only explanation I can think of is that they must've been driven away from their habitat by an overwhelmingly strong predator."

She could still hear Umeda's voice ringing in her head saying, 'if the data is correct, that Galala crocodile probably isn't a capture level 5.' She was worried, very worried. She didn't want Toriko to be unprepared and get hurt, or even worse, dead! "T-Toriko-san! That predator... is the Galala Crocodile!"

"What do you mean?" He asked.

And so she finally explained everything Umeda told her that night. She expected Toriko to be worried, but he was far from it.

"Hou... that's some interesting data." He simply said.

"Th-that's not just interesting data, Toriko-san!"

"What about the taste?"

"T-taste?" She repeated dumbly, _how could this man be asking about the taste after knowing that the Galala crocodile might be a higher capture level!_ She just couldn't understand Toriko!

"A 300-year-old Galala crocodile... the meat's taste would mature and become better, right?" She could see a gleam of saliva seeping out from the edge of his mouth. "I want to try eating it."

She stared in amazement. Never has she seen eyes that crazy, and intense for hunger. It was almost...

almost...

"Like a beast..." she uttered quietly.

Toriko walked deeper into the Baron's marsh, and Komatsu could only follow meekly. Perhaps the scariest beast of all was Toriko.

* * *

 **-To be Continued-**

* * *

 _A/N: I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I just couldn't help adding fluff here and there. And yes, I wanted to add Komatsu as engaged.. or recently engaged because that will play an important role later on. It's slightly different but relatively the same. This is literally just me having a blast writing it (stress relief writing), so please just read the manga if you don't want any romance or non-canon side plots! (or if you just hate fem!Komatsu in general)_

 _Edited: January 8, 2020_


	2. The Galala Crocodile!

A/N: Welcome back, to those who stuck around for the second chapter. Please note that I am VERY well aware that there are many Fem!Komatsu fanfictions. I just want to write it simply for fun! If you enjoyed it, great! If not, then please read the manga – it's really good!

Also, for Tina-fans, I'm terribly sorry but she will not be making ANY appearance in this story!

Anyway, please enjoy the next chapter!

* * *

 **Chapter 2: The Galala Crocodile!**

* * *

Sound of beasts crying echoed throughout the mangrove forest. Occasionally, Komatsu found herself jumping every time a shadow loomed over her from the flying beasts overhead. Toriko still hadn't slowed down his pace. In fact, he seemed to be walking faster. "W-wait! Toriko-san! You're walking too fast!" She cried as she started to jog to catch up to him.

Toriko didn't slow down and she could already feel herself running out of breath. Curse her lack of exercise! She took a small reprieve and adjusted her knapsack.

SZSS SZZSS

The bush rustled next to her. She looked at the bush, and as soon as she took a step back, a blue reptile with large mustard-colored eyes and sharp teethes grinned menacingly. She took a deep breath and screamed, "NGYAAAHHHH!"

Within seconds, Toriko grabbed the Snake Frog and crushed its' throat. "Geez," he grumbled, "don't go making yelping noises over a little Snake Frog!"

"S-sorry," She shivered, "it's just my first time seeing a live Snake Frog." She scratched the back of her head, "I've always handled them in the kitchen... but you know when they're... dead."

He held the Snake Frog by its' tail, "Oh yea, these guys' livers are quite the delicacy. I'll eat it later."

She giggled at the fact that he seemed to only think about food. Suddenly, she felt a small sting from her hand. "Ow..." She looked down to see a black slug with red polka dots stuck to her hand. "G-GYAH!" Her other hand hovered over her infected hand, not sure whether to flick it off or grab it off. "S-something's stuck on me!" She looked to see Toriko completely unfazed, "W-what do I do?"

He snickered then said, "It's just a leech, it's just sucking your blood. Don't mind it."

"I do mind it! I do! I do! It's gross!" She cried as she was about to rip the leech off.

"Hey, I wouldn't do that if I were you. The wound will just get bigger if you force it off." He walked to one of the mangrove trees and picked a handful of its' leaves.

"What is that?" She asked.

"These are mangrove leaves." He took her hand with a giant leech on it; he squeezed the leaves and juices seeped out from his tightened fist. The leech slid off and laid on the ground motionless.

"You got it off!" She said in shock, "how?"

"Well, leeches hate it when you put salt on them."

"S-salt?"

"Yup. The mangroves' roots deposit the salt content of the seawater they absorbed into their leaves. Then their leaves and fruits get so salty that not even bugs would eat them"

"O-oh, I see, I see." She decided to make a mental note of that; it may come up to be useful later on.

"Here." He handed her a handful of mangrove leaves. "Just in case you get attacked by more leeches."

"Ah, thank you." She gratefully accepted the leaves and pocketed them.

"Of course," He continued, "depending on the type, there are some leaves that are edible here."

"Eh? Really?" She looked around to see the various bushes and the trees. She wondered how you could tell which are edible without having to taste them all. In fact, she was surprised how knowledgeable Toriko was about this whole place. But then again, currently there are about 300,000 varieties of ingredients that are known to humans. Of those 300,000, it was said that Toriko discovered 2% of these ingredients. She looked at his broad back and hoped that one day he could share stories of his adventures with her.

SQWWAAACCCKKK

"Eek," but before she could even think about the future, she should first try to survive tonight. "T-there sure are a lot of mysterious... uhm..." She didn't know what to call them; she supposed because they were flying, she would call them birds. "...birds flying around."

In response, Toriko looked up to see a flock of various flying beasts, "The Baron Archipelago is famous for its many giant birds. With these guys holding mastery of the sky, you can't get close with any aircraft."

"Oh, so that's why we came by boat!" She said.

"Komatsu," He pointed to the sun, "the sun's gonna set soon, so how about we rest up for today?"

"Ah, yes!" She replied, but then again they were supposed to meet Tomu tomorrow morning, "how come we're not entering deeper into the marsh while it's still light out? We should make as much progress as we can for today."

He dragged the raft a bit closer to the waters and surveyed the land. "Well, the Galala crocodile is nocturnal. So it's better to go after it during the daytime while it's still sluggish." He dropped the Snake Frog down and started to gather bits and pieces of sticks. "We'll go into the marsh tomorrow."

"A-ah okay..." She said. She looked around to see if there was anything she could do to help.

As if Toriko read her mind, he said, "Just sit back and relax Chef Komatsu. You're the client here."

"A-ah... yes!" She awkwardly said before sitting next to the raft on her knees. Still, she couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed that she wasn't helping out. It felt like she was behind a looking glass. She wanted to be more involved in this adventure, but all she did so far was whine, cry, complain, and probably slowed down Toriko's progress. She looked down at her injured hand. W _hen will this bleeding stop?_ She wondered in frustration.

* * *

Night time fell a lot quicker than Komatsu had anticipated. Toriko made the fire and started roasting the Snake Frog as is. The fire crackled, and the smell of roasting meat filled the air. She was hungry, but her nervousness was staving off her desire to eat. After all, they were surrounded by all sorts of beasts right now.

"YUMMY!" He cried, "this Snake Frog is delicious! Eh Komatsu?"

Then there was Toriko who didn't seem to mind that there were beasts circling around them. "Aha...uhm, y-yes." She replied meekly. A piece of Snake Frog was left untouched on her skewer.

"There's wine too! Do you want some?" He offered nonchalantly.

"I'm good, thank you." She declined politely. She looked down at her hand, and her hand still hadn't stopped bleeding. "Toriko-san? My hand hasn't stopped bleeding..."

He finished a piece of the Snake Frog before slicing off another piece from the main body that was roasting over the open fire. "When leeches suck blood they release a substance called hirudin. It's that substance that prevents blood from clotting. Don't worry, it'll eventually stop bleeding." He said matter-of-factly.

"When exactly is eventually..." She looked down to survey her wound closer, blood was coming out sluggishly.

"Grrr..." one of the beasts circling them growled lowly.

"More importantly... Why are these bird beasts here?" She asked as she crawled a bit closer to Toriko.

He took a big gulp of wine and took another big bite of the Snake Frog. "Don't mind them, these guys are probably hungry. They're probably waiting for leftovers." He said with his mouth full, "on this island that should be lush with resources for food, there's a food shortage instead." He took another gulp of wine to wash down the meat. "By their nature, Galala crocodiles are omnivores and big eaters based on IGO's data. I've got no doubt that the current state of this island is due to the actions of that 300-year-old Galala crocodile."

She looked around to see the beasts eyeing the roasting Snake Frog. Some of them had their tongue lolled out while others were licking their lips. "They all look so...desperate..."

"It's not just Baron Marsh." He continued, he finished drinking the whole bottle of wine and grabbed another one. He popped the top easily with his thumb, "the possibility of this Galala crocodile devouring everything on this archipelago is high."

"W-wait..." she felt a cold shiver down her spine, "you're saying that the Galala crocodile can consume all 200,000 species living here...?" She looked at Toriko as he just continued to drink the wine with leisure. She stood up appalled, "the Galala crocodile can even adapt to the ocean! When there's no food left here, it can...it can..." she imagined the ferocious crocodile entering Gourmet Town wreaking havoc. She shut her eyes, what could she possibly do?

"Chef Komatsu."

"H-huh?" She saw Toriko facing the water. For a moment, everything was silent. Only the fire cackling filled the silent void. "What's wron-"

"Shh." He shushed as he placed his index finger near his lips.

A moment later and all the beast around them either flew or ran away. Her breath started to run ragged, and her heart pumped faster.

 _Blurb, blurb_.

Her ears picked up the sound of the water bubbling near them.

One second.

Two.

Then suddenly, a large beast sprang up from the waters with an ugly hiss. "GYASSSSSSS."

"UWAHHHH!" She screamed, before taking several steps backward.

The large snake-like beast stared at them with its mouth wide open, readying its hunting stance. "Hmm? What's that thing called?" he asked.

"It-it's a Snake Swamp, Toriko-san!" She said as she stood staring at its large mouth. "It-it-it's a capture level 5! They say that as long as it's in the swamp, not even the Galala crocodile can carelessly attack it!"

"Hm. A Snake Swamp." He said simply.

"It-it's a strong predator, Toriko-san!" She was scared and confused. Scared that the Snake Swamp was going to eat her in one gulp. Confused that Toriko was taking all this a bit too calmly.

The great Snake Swamp started to convulse. It made some weird coughing noise before it toppled over next to Toriko. She stepped a bit closer to see the Snake Swamp. "E-eh... is it dead?"

"W-what's with this wound?" He pointed to the large hole.

She stepped closer to the Snake Swamp's lifeless body. It had a huge chunk missing from its body. There was only a bit of tendon and sinew left to keep the Snake Swamp from being bisected in half. "That looks like a bite wound..." She said as she assessed the damage.

"One bite... that was enough to end its' life." He said as he walked closer to the Snake Swamp, "What amazing jaw power, and most of all the jaw size of this."

She heard some leaves and branches crunching behind her. She turned around to see the main culprit in front of her. Her legs went stiff; her breath caught in her throat. It was the Galala Crocodile, staring right into her eyes. Toriko was saying something, but all she heard was muffles. Her brain stopped functioning, "To-Toriko-s-san..." Her eyes started to water, this couldn't be real, right? That definitely wasn't the size of a crocodile; it reminded her more of a dinosaur. Suddenly, all her senses were awakened with a jolt, she felt a menacing presence behind her. She chanced a moment to look back, and she saw another dinosaur! But this dinosaur was talking to her!

"I said, stand back, Komatsu!" It was a familiar voice.

"To-Toriko-san?" She managed to stutter out.

"GYYUUAAAAHHH" A guttural roar from the Galala crocodile demanded their attention.

"UWAHH!" She screamed in response as she finally took full control of her body and ran past Toriko. She ran until she was a safe distance away, and what she saw next could only be described of what you would see in an action movie.

The Galala crocodile launched itself to Toriko, but he easily dodged the attack. While dodging, he punched the crocodile's mouth. The crocodile stumbled to the side from the impact, but brought its massive tail and managed to strike Toriko's side.

"To-Toriko-san!" She couldn't do anything except helplessly watch the two ferocious beasts duke it out.

Toriko caught the tail and swung the crocodile hard into the ground. The crocodile laid on the ground for a moment, dazed.

"HEY KOMATSU!" He called out.

"Y-yes!" She yelped in response, "T-there are two dinosaurs!" She dumbly answered.

"What are you talking about?" He asked before changing his mind, "Wait, never mind. Did you manage to stop the bleeding?"

"T-the bleeding?" She asked before she saw Toriko pointing at his own hand. "Oh! The bleeding!" She looked down to see another leech sucking off the same hand that was injured. "Ahk! there's another one on me!" She cried in disgust.

"I remembered. These are Baron leeches, and they take half a day for the bleeding to stop." He pulled one off with ease despite him telling her not to do exactly that. "The Galala crocodile keeps a large amount of Baron leeches inside its' mouth. It spreads these leeches around and tracks its' prey with the scent of blood."

She looked horrified at the leech sitting on her hand. "Th-then..." She paled, "I'm already the crocodile's target!"

"GYAAAHHHHH!" The mighty Galala Crocodile roared as it finally managed to find its' balance after being thrown off by Toriko.

"I also found these leeches on the Snake Swamp." He pulled off the rest of the leeches, "Now then, it'll be troublesome to drag this fight any longer." He faced the growling Galala Crocodile. "Komatsu! Is it alright if I don't capture this guy alive after all?" he asked.

"Eh? A-alive?" she questioned.

"I'm asking you... _if I can kill it._ " He said in a dangerously low hiss.

Her body stiffened, "Y-yes...be my guest..." she managed to squeak out. His face was so...scary. Possibly scarier than the Galala crocodile, if that was even possible!

She heard a growl, and she thought it was from the crocodile, but it was actually from Toriko!

"Galala Crocodile..." he snarled, "those hard scales, those tough fangs, those sharp claws, and that jaw with around three tons of power..." he got into a fighting position with his arm outstretched ready to take on the Galala Crocodile. "That look of yours is appropriate for the King of the Baron Archipelago."

 _Run_. Komatsu's entire being was screaming, but she couldn't.

As Toriko brushed his two hands together, she heard a sharp noise that reminded her of the time when she sharpened her knives. Suddenly, she could faintly see a grinning red Ogre enveloping Toriko's body. The ogre had a malevolent smile and was ready to eat the whole crocodile in one bite.

The crocodile did not seem to fear the grinning ogre as it lurched forward to its impending doom. "I give thanks to all the ingredients in this world," Toriko said.

"GWARRARR" The crocodile roared.

"FORK!" he screamed as his whole hand impaled the side of the crocodile's jaw. He managed to lift the crocodile's body with one arm. "KNIFE" he screamed again, and he brought his other hand down and cleanly decapitated the crocodile's head. The Galala crocodile was now just a lump of fresh meat.

He brought his hand together and said, "Gochisouma."

She was still in awe. She blinked a couple of times and the red ogre seemed to dissipate. Was she just imagining things? Was her fear making her delusional?

"Komatsu!" He called.

She looked up still stunned and speechless. Toriko gave her a wide energetic smile. "Mission accomplish! Now let's eat!" he said happily.

She was about to reply before she burst into tears. Toriko's face changed into a smiling face that glistened like gold. Was it from relief that she was crying? She didn't know except that she much preferred to see this Toriko rather than whatever she saw back then.

"What are you crying for?" he asked before chuckling, "oh! You're just super excited to try the meat that you're crying in happiness?"

"W-what! N-no!" She said, before wiping her tears off with her sleeves. She then brushed her cheek with something slimy. She saw the back of her hand and forgotten all about the Baron leech! "Augh! I forgot to get rid of this!" She freaked out as she quickly grabbed the leaves from her pocket and squeezed as hard as she could to get a drop of salt water out. The leech just slid off her hand with ease. She sighed in relief but frowned at the blood sluggishly dripping. Plus her hand was looking a lot paler than before.

"Come here, Komatsu!" She looked up to see Toriko rummaging through her knapsack. "Do you have a first aid kit anywhere?"

She stared blankly before heat rose to her cheeks in realization. She had her undergarments in there! "A-ah! W-wait! Toriko-san!" She screeched as she sprinted towards her bag. She got to her bag a tad too late as he pulled out her white panties.

"Oh, oops. I thought that was a handkerchief or something." He said.

She felt like she was going to faint from embarrassment. "Toriko-san!" she finally yelled.

"Hm?" He looked up innocently at her. He didn't seem at all worried with what he was holding.

"I-I may not look it," her voice shuddered, "b-but I'm still a woman you know!" her eyes were watering as she grabbed her underwear and stuffed them back into her knapsack. She could feel her ears and cheeks burning.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" He asked, clearly confused. "Anyway, hurry up and patch up so we can get cooking!" He disregarded the whole thing entirely as he gave her another carefree smile.

She started to feel silly that perhaps she was the only one overreacting.

Except, this was definitely a normal reaction that she had. But then again, she had a feeling that being with him meant having to throw away the term 'normal' out the window. She took a deep breath and decided to just let it go. After all, if he wasn't making a big deal out of this...perhaps it wasn't a big deal after all. Though... she was a bit... disappointed? She kind of hoped for a different reaction after finding her panties.

' _Eh, wh-why am I thinking that?_ ' She placed her hand on her hot forehead. She was going to blame it on the adrenaline rushing through her head from today's event.

* * *

After all that was said and done, they started up the fire once again. He roasted a huge chunk of Galala crocodile.

She smelled the meat, and saw the juice dripping into the fire making a satisfying sizzling sound. "I-is this really alright?" she asked, while trying to contain her drool.

"Is what alright?"

"W-well.." she wiped the drool seeping out from her mouth, "to eat the requested meat here..."

He poked the fire with the stick and turned the meat to evenly roast the meat, "It's fine! We can't carry this huge amount back with us, right?" He poked the fire some more and finally said, "Ah! It's done!" With his hand, he sliced off a chunk of meat cleanly. She still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that someone can cut something like a knife with just their bare hands. "Look... the marbled fat is sparkling..." He started to drool, "it's like a jewel of meat."

She opened her mouth when Toriko opened his mouth to eat the meat. She swallowed back her saliva as Toriko chew the meat agonizingly slow.

"YUMMMMMM!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

"R-really?" She asked, "I-I'm gonna have some too!" She was sure the IGO wouldn't mind her eating just a little bit, you know, to taste test. Toriko sliced a piece off for her and it was a huge slab of meat. "Uhm, could you maybe cut it a bit smaller, Toriko-san?"

"Eh? You can't eat this in one bite?" He asked in shocked.

"O-of course not!" She said.

"Hmm," he stared at her lips, and she bit her lower lips feeling self-conscious again, "yea, you do have a pretty small mouth." He sliced the meat in smaller chunks. He handed the piece of meat, and it nearly burned her hand.

"Ah!" She yelped in surprise and dropped the piece of meat.

"Oh, got it!" He said and caught the meat before it touched the ground. "You're such a baby, Komatsu." He teased while laughing.

She pouted as she said, "It-it was hot..." she blushed in embarrassment. She was a chef so she was used to touching hot food...but not when it was right out from the open fire!

"Hmm, okay." Toriko blew the meat for a bit and held it in front of her lips. "Here."

"Eh?" Was Toriko hand feeding her? She wasn't sure if he saw her as a child or if he was acting on a romantic gesture. Probably the former. Feeling slightly frustrated, she grabbed the cooled meat from Toriko's fingers and popped it in her mouth. She gasped, and Toriko just laughed knowing what she was exactly feeling. "Y-YUMMY!" She said mirroring Toriko's exact reaction.

"Right?" he said. He stood up suddenly and went to a nearby tree and ripped off a large leaf. He handed the leaf to her, "we can use this as a plate."

"A-ah, thank you."

Toriko began to roast more meat and sliced the meat into more of a bite-size chunk for her and placed them on the makeshift plate. She was moved by his thoughtful gesture and felt silly for being offended by Toriko's teasing gesture earlier.

After the fifth serving, she was starting to feel full and tired. She yawned as he was still placing more meat on her leaf-plate. She watched as Toriko was happily enjoying the meat. Despite the scary moments, she could definitely say this trip was well worth it. She was able to see the Galala Crocodile in its' ferocious glory. She looked at the roasting meat, and she was overcome with the feeling of respect for the great Galala Crocodile. She wanted to cook the best meal with this meat so that other's could enjoy everything the Galala Crocodile had to offer. She wanted to go on more trips with Toriko, she wanted to see more, eat more, and experience more.

"Toriko-san?" She asked, her voice barely audible from as she was on the verge of passing out.

"Hm?"

"I have a favor to ask..."

"No."

"E-eh! But I haven't asked yet!"

"...what is it?"

This time he paused eating and stared right at her, urging her to continue. She didn't feel as intimidated as before and she was able to meet his gaze without hesitation. "If...an opportunity like this comes up again..." her lips stretched into a wide smile, "would it be okay if I went with you? Toriko-san?"

"Hoh?" He gave his usual mischievous smile, "Do whatever you want. After all, there's no time like the present." He sliced off another chunk of meat and stuff it in his mouth.

She burst into a bubbly giggle, typical of Toriko to not give her a straight answer. "And anytime after that is the wrong time." she finished his statement.

After a few moments, they settled into another peaceful silence. The sound of the fire's crackle and Toriko's chewing the meat was lulling her to sleep. She nodded her head several times before she finally shut her eyes into a deep slumber.

The next morning, she woke up from the loud screeching of beasts. She opened her eyes to see the flying beasts circling them. It was scary how she seemed to be already used to this scenery. The human psyche to adapt was certainly amazing. She got up and realized that she was sleeping in the raft. _Huh, when did I get on here?_ She thought maybe she walked over here and fell asleep without realizing it. The crisp morning breeze was refreshing, and she yawned while stretching out the sleepiness from her body.

What greeted her sight was Toriko with a round belly and the skeletal remaining of the Galala Crocodile.

"..." She rubbed her eyes hoping she was imagining seeing the fact that the Galala Crocodile was all eaten away.

"..." No. It was definitely gone. "To...Toriko-san!" She gasped in shocked, "I-I can't believe we ate all of this! This is bad! Oh no!"

"You idiot." He managed to murmur, "Who do you think I am! I saved a piece."

A bubble of hope rose, "Toriko-san!" She cried in happiness.

"See this."

It was a dead Baron leech.

Just like that, the bubble burst. "That's just the leech from inside its mouth!"

"Isn't that enough?"

"N-no! Of course it isn't!" She started to rub her temple feeling a headache coming along, "Augh! What am I going to tell the IGO director about this!" She cried in despair, "I'm definitely, 100%, going to get fired for this!"

"Tell the IGO, that it was fre-a-king delicious!"

"W-what good is it just to tell him that?" She exclaimed.

"Hmm, but it's still one step away from being put into my full course menu, I think."

"Gah!" She chocked, "So you're saying after all that it still isn't good enough!" She couldn't believe this man at all!

* * *

She arrived at the pier and thanked Toriko and Tomu for the trip despite failing IGO's request. But, the Galala Crocodile was definitely delicious, which she could never tell the IGO director. She sighed pitifully, it was time to face the music.

She took a taxi and arrived at Hotel Gourmet. She knocked on the IGO director's door and waited a few moments before she heard a muffled invitation to enter.

"Good afternoon, director." She greeted.

"N~~ Komatsu-chan, you came back alive!" Umeda said.

"Haha... yes." She laughed nervously; she didn't know how she was going to break this news to the director. "Uhm.. I have some bad news to...report..."

"N~~ let me guess." He said. "Toriko-chan ate the whole meat?"

"E-eh? How did you know!" She gasped.

"The president told me that we should at least expect that from Toriko-chan."

Well then, it seemed Toriko's gluttony wasn't a surprise to anyone. "I-I'm so very sorry, director!" She bowed hoping they wouldn't fire her for this.

"It's alright Komatsu-chan. Luckily, the IGO was able to be successful in selectively breeding the Galala Crocodile."

"...wait. What." She dumbly said.

"So that means, you're in the clear!" He laughed heartily.

She awkwardly laughed along while thinking to herself, _then what was the purpose of this trip?_

She finally excused herself as she needed to find her manager to ask if she could take today off as well. She was exhausted from yesterday's trip and she could sleep all day today.

"Manager!" she called out when she saw him lounging outside the restaurant.

"K-Komatsu!" Smith cried, "You're alive!"

"Haha, yep, I'm still in one piece." she smiled, "can I take today off as well? I'm really exhausted from the trip so I don't know if I can cook to the best of my ability today."

"Oh yes, yes, you certainly can!" he said.

"Thank you!" She bowed in gratitude. She was about to take her leave before he called out her name again.

"Yes?" She said.

"Would you go on this sort of trip again Komatsu? It's dangerous which I'm sure you already know." he fidgeted as he looked away from her.

Without missing a beat, she replied happily, "Yes! I had lots of fun!" she was able to say that from the bottom of her heart.

He gasped in shock much to her confusion. "I-I see.." he suddenly looked much paler than before, "well then... have a good rest Komatsu..." He sluggishly walked away from her.

She looked at her manager's retreating figure and thought that perhaps he should also take a day off too. He looked just as tired as her today.

* * *

Komatsu finally arrived home and took off her sweaty clothes. She took a nice long hot shower, and her muscles sighed in pleasure. She changed into her comfy pajamas and was about to fall asleep before she saw the dirty heap of clothes that should be laundered.

She sighed as it was best to clean the clothes now rather than later so it didn't sit and just reek in her laundry hamper for a week. Before chucking her clothes into the washing machine, she checked her pant pocket and pulled out a single mangrove leaf.

"Mhm...it almost seems like a waste to throw this leaf away..." She looked around and spotted her old cooking book that she already memorized cover to cover.

She opened the book and a dried petal of a red rose slipped out. This petal was from a rose bouquet she received from her ex-fiancee on the day he proposed to her. She gently picked up the rose petal and memories of her first date with him rushed in. She should throw it away as she didn't want to preserve that memory anymore. She stared at the dry rose petal once more and sighed pitifully that she couldn't throw it away after all. Even now, she sometimes caught herself desperately looking for the engagement ring even though she threw it into the waters.

For now, she placed the rose petal back into the book and flipped to another page for the leaf. She looked at the book cover once more before gently placing it back into her book shelf.

After throwing her clothes into the washing machine, she laid on the left side of her bed. After a moment, she rolled over to the middle.

"I hope I can go on another trip with Toriko-san again..." She placed her forearm over her eyes. She knew that she may never go on another crazy adventure like this... after all, Toriko and her live two different lives. Plus, she would just slow down Toriko's hunting process if she tagged along.

She was scared of having expectation or hope after her fiancee blindsided her by leaving her. It was best to keep her expectation low so that she wouldn't get burned from disappointment in the end. So even if she were to never go on another trip with Toriko, at least she had the mangrove leaf to remind her of this precious memory.

With a forced smile, she closed her eyes as she imagined all the possible dishes she could've cooked with the Galala Crocodile meat for Toriko to try.

Her last image before falling into a deep slumber was Toriko happily eating her meals.

* * *

 **\- To be Continued -**


	3. The Deadly Troll Kongs

A/N: _ _Welcome to the start of the SECOND arc! You probably realized that I'm having a bit too much fun with Komatsu's history before meeting Toriko.__

 _ _Also, this is like my 4__ _ _th__ _ _time editing because I kept exiting out without saving my edits like an idiot!__ _*_ _cries*_

 _ _Okay, I will shut up now. Enjoy the chapter!__

Special Shoutout to ****Konan248, Destin (Guest), TheOne (Guest), Lunamugetsu,**** ** **KingCreations****

 _Thank you for your kind reviews!_

* * *

 ** **Chapter 3: The Deadly Troll Kongs****

* * *

Near the port of Gourmet Town, there laid a huge market called _"Gourmet Central Wholesale Market."_ From all over the world, every single kind of Gourmet ingredients was gathered there. The total area of the market space was 3000 hectares, and the amount of food brought in at any single day was about 900,000 tons. Every day, at least one trillion yen changed hands in this enormous market! With its grandeur and prestige, this market received the nickname called the "World's Kitchen!"

Komatsu marveled at all the rare ingredients being moved from one shop to another. There was a bustling of crowds screaming prices for the luxurious _Silver King Crab._ Her mouth watered wondering what that would taste like. Someone yelled seven million yen for the whole crab. There was no way she earned enough money to even try a piece of that crab.

"Hey! Hurry up, would you Komatsu!" a voice called out for her attention. "Our target will be sold before we get there!" he reprimanding her lightly. He adjusted his sunglasses that reminded her of a certain IGO director. She was currently sent on a job to hunt for some fresh ingredients for another IGO-sponsored luxury party. Today, the IGO Development Bureau's Section Chief was accompanying her.

"Ah, sorry Johannes-san!" She sheepishly laughed, "I just get so distracted by all these different ingredients!" Her eyes sparkled as she saw a group of workers carrying the _Tsuchinoko Turtle_ , "Uwahh! This sure is the World Kitchen! There are tons of rare ingredients everywhere!" She felt like a child in a candy store.

"Oh! Is that you miss?" a familiar voice spoke out.

She turned around and saw the scarred man, Tomu, pushing a trolley of stacked crates. "Ah! Tomu-san! Thank you so much for the other day!"

"I'm just happy to see you back in one piece!" he snickered.

She chuckled in response reminiscing her surreal event with the Galala Crocodile and she was just as happy to be back in one piece as well. "Tomu-san, what kind of ingredients do you have?" She tried to peer through the cracks of the wooden crate; there seemed to be a variety of sea critters in there.

"Ah just the usual, I got some Sea Urchins, Sea Cucumbers, Jelly Momo Fish, Red Fishchins... all sorts!"

"Wow!" she marveled, "and they all smell very fresh!"

"Of course! Nothing but the best for my customers." Tomu proudly stated, "by the way, Toriko's suppose to be bringing ingredients to my shop. Wanna stick around?"

Her ears perked up at the mention of Toriko's name, she couldn't believe she was going to meet Toriko so soon! "Eh! T-Toriko-san is coming?" She wanted to see him but, she could feel the cold glare from Johannes for dilly-dallying once again. "I would like to but..."

"You called?" a voice responded.

She felt her back stiffening from hearing that familiar deep-toned voice. There was no mistaking it, that voice definitely belonged to Toriko! She turned around to greet him only to see a giant beast walking towards her. "Tori-UWAH! A monster!" she yelped in shock. The beast was awkwardly walking towards her but, upon closer inspection, she could see the familiar tuft of blue hair peeking out. "T-Toriko-san?" She called out.

The crowd started to get rowdy as they stopped and stared at the popular bishokuya.

"Mama, it's Toriko!"

"Toriko?"

"Toriko's here!"

"No way, is it really him?"

She looked around to see everyone pointing and calling out to Toriko. She momentarily forgot that he was incredibly famous and her presence was easily swallowed up by the crowd.

"Oh! A Shakurenodon! Looks like it weighs at least a ton." Tomu happily exclaimed ignoring the growing crowd around them.

Toriko dropped the beast to the ground, and she felt the slight tremor from the ground upon impact. "How's 40,000 for a kilo sound, Tomu?" Toriko said. "I've already used knocking on it."

She was impressed that the beast was knocked so cleanly. She inspected the creature closer and realized that it was still breathing. That beast was as fresh as it could possibly come.

"Make it 30,000 per kilo!" Tomu bargained, "I've got a lot of poor small buyers too, you know?"

She gasped, 30,000 yen per kilo was a steal! She quickly went up to Tomu, "Could you sell some to my restaurant too, Tomu-san?"

"Sure," Tomu said with ease.

She smiled back happily in response, "Thank you!" She had never cooked a Shakurenodon before! She could envision all sorts of dishes she could cook with the meat.

"I'm worried," Johannes said. He adjusted his sunglasses before confronting Tomu, "if you don't strictly follow the market prices established by the IGO... the true value of the ingredients will change."

"Oh?" Tomu grinned, "then talk to the Producer, Toriko." he chuckled darkly and said, "if you dare that is."

Johannes took a startled step backward, "i-impossible!" he yelped before clearing his throat and dropped the whole matter. "Toriko-san, I've heard the rumors."

"Aha, Johannes-san certainly gives up easily," she remarked as Tomu chuckled in reply.

Johannes cleared his throat to signal their attention, "A-anyway! So you've taken down a Galala Crocodile. Just what I'd expect from one of the Four Heavenly Kings." he adjusted his sunglasses again, "I just wish the other three would follow your example and contribute to the Gourmet Age."

Toriko scoffed and said, "I think it's pointless to expect anything from them."

Johannes adjusted his sunglasses as part of his habitual tick, "that being said, we have a job request for you."

Toriko just shrugged and gave a dismissal wave before walking off from the group, "Yeah, yeah, you IGO guys have plenty of your own privately employed bishokuya, don't you? You don't need -."

"The Rainbow Fruit has reached its full ripeness." Johannes cut in.

Toriko stopped in his track before turning around with a sly grin. "Oh?"

"D-Did you say Rainbow Fruit?" she turned to look at Johannes's expressionless face. "T-That's the phantasmal tree fruit that has a variety of different tastes based on the atmospheric temperature and the level of humidity!" She couldn't believe her ears! After all, she only heard of legends of this fruit and simply thought of it as just a fairy tale.

"I've heard about that," Tomu said as he dropped the crate on his trolley. "The Rainbow Fruit is a fruit said to have such a high concentration of juice that one drop of it into a 25-meter pool of water will make all of the water in the pool turn into a thick and mellow juice."

Komatsu could feel the excitement bubbling in her, "And!" She excitedly said, "I've also heard that the price for the Rainbow Fruit is so high that if you sold it, you'd be able to live a life of luxury you're whole life."

"There's also a rumor that it's completely wiped out from the natural world," Tomu said as he suspiciously looked at Johannes.

"That's a false rumor spread by some Gourmet Investors to raise the value of the Rainbow Fruit." Johannes said matter-of-factly, "a few days ago we confirmed that the Rainbow Fruit has been successfully grown in our _Garden_. Of course, we cannot say that those are natural."

"Eh, what do you mean?" She asked.

"It's one of those selectively bred trees you guys are so good at growing, isn't it?" Toriko interjected.

"Ah yes." Johannes said, "but the problem is the Rainbow Tree has been made into a Troll Kong nest. No one can get close to it."

"Troll Kongs..." She shuddered involuntarily from remembering the picture of a Troll Kong she saw back in grade school. Their faces gave her a nightmare for a month!

"The Troll Kongs are the strongest of all the Gorillas," Johannes continued, "a few days ago, we mobilized a 2 billion yen Gourmet Tank but, it was astoundingly flipped upside down... and that was a 40-ton Military tank!" Johannes adjusted his sunglasses, "the administration bureau has announced it to have a capture level of 9! It likely even surpass the Galala Crocodile!"

"C-Capture level 9?" Tomu stuttered.

"The Troll Kong... that's selectively bred too, isn't it...?" Toriko scratched his chin and looked unimpressed by the new information, "Geez, you guys do nothing but weird experiments, don't you?" he sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "Is there really only one Troll Kong? I heard they usually form packs," he mumbled quietly.

"Let's take this request, Toriko-san!" Komatsu finally blurted out, "It's the Rainbow Fruit after all!" she felt like her chest swell up from happiness; she never imagined that she could go on another adventure with Toriko so soon! Suddenly her last night's lament seemed nothing but a distant memory. "I want to see it too! Let's go together!"

Toriko looked over at her and skeptically said, "You're really gonna die this time."

She understood that going on an adventure with Toriko was the same as signing off on a death sentence, but if she missed this chance, when will another chance to see a Rainbow Fruit come by? She gave a large smile and said the words that both saved and damned her, "Toriko-san, there's no time like the present, right?"

Toriko's eyes lit up in bemusement and grinned right back at her. "Geez, guess I've got no choice. Well, I'd like to try it too, so..." he chuckled, "I think I'll show my face there for the first time in a while... at that nostalgic _Garden._ "

Toriko stretched his arms and finally said, "well let's go!"

Johannes cleared his throat before turning to Komatsu, "Chef Komatsu, you have to stay back and pick the ingredients for the party."

She looked at Johannes blankly before realization hit her that she was technically still on the job. She was about to protest but quickly clamped her mouth shut. Now that she thought about it, she didn't tell her manager or the director about this new change of plan. She was internally kicking herself, how could she be this irresponsible? If she just left without telling her boss she would most definitely get fired. She looked at Toriko who gave her a quizzical look. Her head bowed low in resignation. "R-right..." she agreed with Johannes meekly. "Toriko-san... it seems I can't go after all..." she laughed awkwardly in an attempt to cover her disappointment.

"Huh?" Toriko said, "if Komatsu wants to come, just let her come. She can deal with that crap afterward."

"T-Toriko-san!" She yelped in shock. She didn't want Johannes to think that she didn't take her job seriously from Toriko's careless comment! After all, Johannes was still technically her boss today.

"Komatsu." Toriko said with a stern face, "do you want to go and capture the Rainbow Fruit?"

Wasn't it obvious? She obviously definitely wanted to go. Before her brain could think of an appropriate answer, she nodded her head at Toriko in response.

Toriko grinned, "then choose the option you won't regret the most, Komatsu."

She stared at Toriko's face in a stunned silence. That statement he made was so stupid, idealistic, irresponsible, simple, and yet...

yet...

...it resonated with her heart deeply. Perhaps she really was a fool after all. With a sense of renewed courage, she gave Johannes a deep bow, "please let me attend this! Johannes-san!"

"..." Johannes said nothing and she could feel her heart beating loudly in her ears. The few seconds felt like long minutes. Her ears twitched when he finally gave out a deep sigh of resignation, "Alright, I'll call someone else to pick up the ingredients then."

She slowly raised her head and she could feel her nose stinging signaling her that she was close to crying. She swallowed back her happy tears and have a deep bow to Johannes once again, "Johannes-san! Thank you!"

"Just try not to make this into a habit." Johannes sighed once again as he took out his car keys.

She only laughed sheepishly, "Uhm... Yes sir."

* * *

They entered Johannes' white limousine, and there were red velvet curtains to cover the windows. The seats were made of black leather and were very soft to sit on. Komatsu entered first and she felt the limousine leaned a bit downwards as soon as Toriko stepped on. He was uncomfortably crouching while trying to get to his seat. He was also dragging a pot and placed it between his legs.

Johannes was in the driver seat and started the engine. "It will take 1hr and 45 minutes to get there."

"Okay!" she replied.

Toriko opened the lid and in it was filled to the brim with Salmon Roes. He took a spoonful, and she could hear the roes popping from every bite. "Muhooo! Look at this Komatsu, in hopes that we get the Rainbow Fruit, Tomu gave us a 100 kilos worth of Golden Salmon Roe!"

She was shocked when Tomu gave Toriko such a significant amount, but then again, seeing how quickly Toriko was eating the decadent salmon roes, perhaps the quantity was merely an appetizer for him. He took another spoonful before blissfully slapping his knee in glee, "YUMMY! The popping two-stage attack of this flavor is out of this world!"

She was astonished that nothing seemed to faze him. They were going to go and meet a dangerous beast that was possibly more dangerous than the Galala crocodile. But, for a chance to see the legendary Rainbow Fruit, it was worth it to face the possible dangers! But then again, would there be any Rainbow Fruit left by the time they arrive there? After all, the Troll Kong probably would've eaten it all by now, "hey Toriko-san? There's one thing I have in mind..."

"Hm?" he replied while stuffing another spoonful or roes into his mouth.

"Wouldn't the Troll Kong just eat the Rainbow Fruit right away? After all, the scent is said to attract all living beasts."

He spoke with his mouth full which she was used to by now, "Troll Kongs only eat animal meat. Its goal is probably to prey on animals that are attracted by the smell of the Rainbow Fruit."

"Oh!" She never realized how smart the Troll Kongs were, "But how is it possible that animals are still getting close to the tree even with such a vicious beasts living there?"

This time Johannes was the one to speak out, "There's no end to the animals that come close to it." She quizzically looked at Johannes odd driving posture. He was sitting near the edge of the seat with his back ram-rod straight. His hands were grasping the wheel near the top, and his whole body was swaying as he moved the wheel. Johannes continued his explanation, "it's nearly a reflex action. It's like in baseball when a foul ball hits the backstop net, spectators always move like they're trying to avoid it. Even though they know they are protected by the net, they still move out of reflex. Similarly, the animals cannot control themselves and are drawn to the Rainbow Fruit purely by their reflex due to the fruit's intoxicating smell."

"W-wow..." she was starting to get curious about the smell of the Rainbow Fruit. "By the way, Johannes-san... that's quite an amazing posture you're driving in."

Johannes grumbled something about how he disliked driving the limousine.

"Its attraction is so strong that it makes you forget all reason? That's a lot like love, eh Komatsu?" Toriko remarked with blase.

"E-eh?" She never imagined Toriko to be making that sort of comparison.

He started to snicker before saying, "Maybe this time, along with your will, you should also write a __love letter__."

"...EH?" She burst out. "l...l...l...love letter?" her face heated up thinking perhaps Toriko wanted her love letter. But one look at Toriko's face and she realized that he was just teasing her again.

"Hahaha, your face, hahaha," he laughed while clutching his stomach.

To save a shred of her dignity, she just looked away to hide her flushed cheeks, "P-please stop joking around Toriko-san! What's with the w-weird idea?"

He only laughed harder much to her chagrin.

"We're here, Toriko-san." Johannes interrupted.

"Oh! I see it! The Garden!" Toriko said as he stood up until his head touched the car's ceiling.

She was thankful that they finally arrived to break her weird tension with the subject. She placed her cool hand on her hot cheeks. __Love that makes you forget all reason, huh?__ _s_ he thought listlessly. The fact that she was willingly walking into danger could only mean that she lost all reason! Besides, there was no way she was in _love_ with Toriko...right? She shook her head to get rid of such a silly idea. She just went through an awful break up with her ex-fiancee, to even look at another man when she hadn't even fully given herself closure would be a rebound relationship at best. _She took a deep breath and counted to three._ She should only be thinking about retrieving the Rainbow Fruit!

Johannes parked the car, and she could finally see how giant the white wall actually was compared to at a distance. The wall stretched across the land as far as the eye could see. The sky was filled with dark clouds giving the white wall a more imposing look. There were two guards stationed at the only entrance and saluted to Toriko.

"Wow..." She had to stretch her neck all the way up just to see the top of the wall.

"Gouchisouma-desu." The two soldiers said in unison.

"Quit it with that greeting you guys, I haven't treated you to anything," Toriko said as he pulled a cigar branch from his pocket. He lighted it up by snapping his fingers with ease.

Komatsu walked closer to the entrance and read the sign, "B-Biotope Garden?"

"It's a man-made flora and fauna living space." Johannes began to explain, "we let animals live free-range in an environment exceedingly close to their original habitat."

"The IGO researches Gourmet Animals' ecology and such in these biotopes," Toriko added.

"O-oh wow... that's impressive," she said in awe.

"Could you open the gates for us?" Johannes asked the guards.

"Ah well..." one of the guards hesitated.

 ** **DON DON DON DON****

A loud sound reverberated through the air. Jumping back in reflex, she looked around her surrounding to see if the ground was breaking apart. She then looked up to see the brooding skies with lightning flashing within the dark clouds, "I-is that thunder?" she asked in disbelief.

One of the guards cleared his throat for their attention, "we received contact from the research laboratory's watchtower just 10 minutes ago. They said that there is one Troll Kong on the other side of the gate."

"It's waiting to ambush?" Johannes uttered in surprise.

"N-no way!" She couldn't believe that the Troll Kongs were smart enough to plan out an ambush. "C...could that sound be the Troll Kong banging against the gate's wall?"

"No, that's not likely." Johannes said, "there's a deep trench between the Garden and the wall. No beasts should be able to cross it easily."

 **DON DON DON DON**

She jumped again from the sound, except it was coming from behind her. She whipped back and saw Toriko casually smoking his cigar branch while his fist was hovering over his broad chest.

Putting two and two together, somehow Toriko was able to mimic the sound the Troll Kong made. Impressive but really unnecessary as she really didn't need a heart attack from shock. "P-please don't scare us like that, Toriko-san!" she scolded, "and...and how did you even make that sound just now?"

Toriko took another puff of his cigar, "it's called drumming."

"Drumming?" she asked.

"It's a form of intimidation characteristics to gorillas. The sound before was the sound of a Troll Kong pounding on its chest." Toriko's gaze sharpened at the gate's entrance, "the _king_ of the Garden is warning me not to enter."

She looked back to the tall and wide fortress, "is it even possible for drumming sounds to reach all the way here across that thick concrete wall?" she asked in disbelief.

"I...I do believe that..." Johannes finally regained his stoic composure. "It is said that the Troll Kong's drumming is an explosive sound that can be heard tens of kilometers away..." he looked at the wall before him, "generally speaking, animals who hear this sound gets scared and run away."

"I don't care, open the gate," Toriko nonchalantly said as he walked past the guards.

"W-We cannot, Toriko-sama." the guard quivered, "there are regulations."

"Ah?" Toriko looked at the guard, and the guard immediately stiffened his posture.

"A-At this 8th biotope, if there is a beast of a capture level 5 or above within a five-kilometer radius of the gate, then we are not allowed to open it. It is presumed there are no animals that can cross the trench, but this is just an extra cautionary measure." The guard ended his explanation with a salute.

"So..." Toriko said as he gave his devil-may-care smile, and somehow Komatsu knew something bad was going to happen. "...it's okay if they're outside of the five-kilometer radius then?" The sound of thunder rumbled lowly in the distant. "In other words, if they're already gone when we open it, it's okay?" he asked.

She gulped down a lump that was stuck in her throat. She hoped that Toriko wasn't thinking of breaking down this wall.

Toriko cracked his knuckle and approached the white concrete wall. No one dared to stop him. "Besides drumming, Gorillas have the acts of throwing and breaking something nearby as a method of intimidation, but..." he trailed on before he took his fighting stance. She could see Toriko's muscles bulk up and suddenly she felt a similar chill from when he first fought the Galala crocodile.

"T-Toriko-san?" She called out in fear.

"Get back." Toriko growled before screaming, "Three-Hit Nail Punch!" his fist seemed to have met the white concrete wall once, and within seconds the wall started to give under the impact. She could see the wall concaving deeper and deeper.

"WAHHH!" both Komatsu and Johannes screamed in shock.

"It's open," Toriko said, and as if he cast a magic spell, the wall burst out leaving a giant hole in its wake.

Toriko sauntered in through the hole with ease, "sorry for the intrusion."

Komatsu saw Johannes and the guards shell-shocked. She politely bowed hoping to send a message to dismiss her and also to apologize on behalf of Toriko's reckless action. She sweatdropped when she realized that both the Guards and Johannes was still staring at the broken wall with mouth wide opened. She turned and ran through the man-made hole knowing that Toriko really doesn't wait for anyone. She was careful not to trip over the rubbles that were littered from the wall bursting open. At the end of the short tunnel, she was surprised to see Toriko actually waiting for her. "Toriko-san... we could've entered without going so overboard like this." she felt bad for the guards as they will have to explain to their superior of why there was a gaping hole in the wall. She wondered how much it would cost to fix a hole this big.

"STAY BACK, KOMATSU!" Toriko yelled.

"Eh?" she froze in her tracks and frantically looked around to locate the immediate danger.

"We're being attacked!" as soon as he said that, she saw a blur of five snakes launching their attacks at him.

All five of them bit him on his legs, his arms, and his torso. "T-TORIKO-SAN!" She screamed.

She could see the snakes digging their whole fangs deeper into his appendages. Their body started to coil around his body, "These are... these are Zombie Taipans!" Her body quivered in fear, "Toriko-san..." she started to cry, "these are extremely venomous... what should I do?"

"I know." He said calmly, "Be quiet. I told you to get away."

More tears started to pool in her eyes, she didn't know how Toriko could fight against venom! She saw his hand reaching for the Cigar branch in his mouth. He started to inhale the cigar until it disintegrated to ash. Then as he exhaled, a wisp of smoke poured out and enveloped his whole body.

The Zombie Taipans dropped from his body one by one. They were dazed momentarily before they sluggishly slithered away. "Okay, you're good little kids... you were just surprised being thrown all of a sudden." He gently said, "you can go back to your nest now."

She looked at the retreating snakes before looking to Toriko in confusion, "Zombie Taipans are known to not release their fangs until their prey is dead..." She was in awe how he got the bad-tempered Zombie Taipans to release him with hardly any effort.

Like usual, Toriko had a response to that, "they really hate the Cigar tree's smoke. It's an irritating odor, so you can use it in camps and stuff as a convenient way to ward off bugs," and like usual, he always managed to give her life hacks at the end.

She was dazed for a moment before she realized that Toriko had venom injected into him by five of these dangerous snakes. "To-Toriko-san!" She ran towards him. She saw blood oozing out from the punctured wound.

"Did something happen? Are you alright?" Johannes called out from the other side of the wall.

"I'm fine, it's nothing," Toriko yelled back. "Go wait at the research laboratory and drink gourmet tea or something," he said with a tint of mockery, "just sit back while I bring the Rainbow Fruit to you real soon."

"Th-Then...I...I wish you Food Luck." Johannes managed to stutter out.

Toriko walked to the lever and pulled it down. The gears started to turn and a drawbridge was slowly lowering to make a path across the deep trench.

"To-Toriko-san! You shouldn't be moving around like this! You need to hurry up and take the serum!" she fretted while looking around to see if there were any first aid kits attached on to the wall.

He just gave her a dismissal wave, "it's fine, I already got it."

She stared dumbly at Toriko. She could only understand him half the time.

"Now then, I'm heading out!" he leisurely walked across the lowered bridge.

She asked once more, "A-are you really okay, Toriko-san?"

He disregarded her question and continued across the bridge, "Hey, if you're coming, hurry up!" he looked back at her with his usual easy-going smile, "or else you're going to be left behind!"

"O-okay!" She stammered hesitantly. Once she caught up to him, she looked down to the trench and chewed on her lower lip when she couldn't see the bottom. She gulped in nervousness as she walked a bit closer to Toriko's side. She could hear the howling wind that reminded her of a ghostly moan coming from the trench. Did those snakes climbed all the way down and up the trench to get to the wall? But there wasn't any food around the entrance area, so why would they even hunt around there? "Toriko-san, why did that Snake suddenly attacked us?"

"Hm, you probably didn't sense its presence," he said.

"Huh?" She looked at him with knitted brows, "presence?"

"There was a Troll Kong across the trench that ambushed us by throwing these snakes."

"O-oh..." she paled realizing that a smart and robust beast was definitely more terrifying than any Galala crocodile. She looked at his wounds and then his gait. She was impressed that he was walking fine as if he didn't just get injected with toxic venom. She was concerned for his vitality, but then again he was the last person she should be concerned about regarding survival chances.

She looked up to see the sky grumbling lowly; she hoped to capture the fruit before it started to rain.

* * *

She was half focused on the rough terrain while trying to keep up with Toriko's brisk pace. She really needed to work out if she planned on going on more adventures with him. As she walked, she noticed off to the side a tree with Bacon leaves growing on it. Her eyes sparkled as she deviated from her track to quickly pick some Bacon Leaves.

As soon as she plucked out one of the Bacon Leaves, the leaves released a rich, smoky scent. Her mouth started to water, she really wanted to cook these freshly picked bacon leaves.

She looked back and saw Toriko in the distance. "Ahk! I better catch up before he really does leave me behind!" She started to run and called out to him to slow down his pace for just a bit, "W-wait, Toriko-san!" To her surprise, he actually stopped.

When she caught up to him, Toriko was looking up to the rumbling clouds, "The Rainbow tree is tall so it'd be bad if lightning struck. Let's quicken our pace."

"Yes!" She replied, "but first look at these Bacon Leaves! I've never seen them growing in nature!" She remarked in delight.

"Yea?" Toriko said, before he took a bite of something, "on the way, I found some Banana cucumbers," he took another bite, "it goes great with Bacon Leaves wrapped around it."

 _Wah, he's already eating it_ , she thought in disbelief.

He put the last bit of Banana Cucumber wrapped in Bacon Leaves in his mouth. He then jumped down the small rocky ledge.

She stared at the Bacon Leaves when inspiration suddenly struck her, "Oh yea! Toriko-san! Wouldn't this go great with Rainbow Fruit?" as she held up the two slabs of Bacon Leaves.

Toriko looked up from the lower elevation, "Oh! Once in a while you do say chef-like things, don't you? That sounds tasty!"

"W-what do you mean once in a while!" she gave an exaggerated pout, before seeing him give her a cheeky grin and she couldn't help but burst into giddy laughter.

"Okay Komatsu, jump!" he called out from below.

"Eh?" She looked down, and it was at least several meters before she would hit the ground. "I'm going to definitely break something if I jump, Toriko-san..." all traces of her previous mirth gone.

"Then, I'll catch you," he said while stretching his arms out towards her.

"E-eh?" she stuttered and took a small step away from the edge. She knew that now wasn't the time to feel shy, but the thought of Toriko catching her and embracing her was making her heart beat like crazy.

"Komatsu! Come on!" he called her attention back to reality. He took several steps backward to gauge the distance between them. Suddenly, the ground under him gave, and he quickly jumped aside from falling through.

"Toriko-san!" She called out in worry. She squinted her eyes as she couldn't see him amidst the dusty cloud from the rocks breaking apart underneath him.

"RWWOOOAAARRR!" A beastly roar thundered from the sky.

Her back bunched up, tensed. She had to force her stiff neck to look up. Her mouth gaped open trying to scream, but nothing came out. She saw the Troll Kong in midair with his four massive arms, and he held a boulder in each hand. She dropped the bacon leaves, willing her legs to move but alas they too shut down. The Troll Kong was only focused on attacking Toriko as it threw all four boulders where he was last seen.

Finally, gravity took over the Troll Kong, and it landed heavily right next to her. Without moving a single millimeter, she stared frozen to her spot at the many jagged teethes flashing dangerously before her. Its black eyes with red pupils locked on her.

Her breath hitched, and her fingertips felt numb. As cliche as it may sound, she saw her life flashing before her eyes.

The Troll Kong lumbered its giant body towards her. Her eyesight was starting dim, and her body started to sway unable to hold her own weight.

 _Memories of her first day enrolling into the top ten culinary School._

 _Memories of her first successful meal that brought a smile to her teacher's face._

 _Memories of her and her ex-fiancee sharing their first kiss..._

Ah... she was going to die.

"GWAARRRAAAAA" The Troll Kong let out a mighty roar as if declaring it was now ready to eat. Its' mouth so wide that it could easily devour her whole. The stench of rotten eggs filled her nose, and her eyes followed the one glob of saliva viscously dripping down from his many sharp teethes.

"Knocking!" a flash of blue leaped in front of her eyes, and she saw sparks of electricity.

"Toriko-san!" she finally took a gasp of air.

The Troll Kong grabbed Toriko's waist. "GWAAAR-" it started to hack until it puked out whatever remains was in its stomach drenching Toriko's body whole. The Troll Kong slammed Toriko down to the ground and raised one of its four arms to smash Toriko down further to the ground.

"S-STOP!" she managed to finally yell at the Troll Kong. The Troll Kong surprising stilled eerily.

"AGA... AHK..." the Troll Kong chocked before finally collapsing right next to her.

"HIH!" She yelped as its eyes were still opened and its tongue lolled out.

"Don't worry, I used knocking," Toriko stood up and wiped the Troll Kong's vomit off his face. "He won't be able to move for a while."

"Toriko-san!" she called, before rubbing her teary eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Yea..." he took a small sniff of his hand before gagging, "ugh, this stinks! That bastard vomited all over me."

She sighed in relief that Toriko must be fine if he was still in his easy-going mood. She looked back to the still Troll Kong that was breathing heavily, "You just paralyzed it?" she looked away as its eyes were starting to creep her out, "that means, eventually it'll start moving again!" she shuddered in disgust.

"Yea, I used the type that wears off in half a day," he said.

"In half a day...?" she bit her thumbnail in worry, "is it really okay to not finish it off?"

"There's really no point in killing it," he said while trying his best to pat himself dry from the Troll Kong's vomit, "after all, our goal is the Rainbow fruit."

She took a real hard look at the man in front of her, he was indeed an enigma. He was so strong, and could probably kill whatever nuisance came his way. Even though this Troll Kong threw venomous snakes at him and tried to just kill him right now, how could he only just use knocking on it?

"Ahk! This is so stinky! I'm definitely going to need a shower after this" He whined before looking back and called her over, "Let's go, Komatsu!"

"A-Ah yes!" she replied, before taking one good look at the still Troll Kong. She really couldn't understand Toriko at all.

* * *

Despite Toriko telling Komatsu that they needed to make haste, whether he realized it or not, he was keeping more at her own comfortable pace. Her body still felt stiff from that near-death experience, and she was thankful that he wasn't sprinting towards the Rainbow Fruit.

They finally entered the crevice between two cliff-side rocks, as she was looking around she noticed an unusually large amount of discarded animal bones littered around.

"The Rainbow Fruit is close, Komatsu," he sniffed the air.

"Really?" her attention was now back on him.

"Yea! I can smell the Rainbow Fruit from here."

She sighed in relief that now it should be easy picking, literally and figuratively. "Since we took care of that Troll Kong, we can just relax and go take the fruit, right Toriko-san!"

"That guy was the lowest rank in his pack. That's the reason why he vomited on me."

"Eh?" she looked up to him, "P-pack?"

They finally exited out between the rock crevices and was greeted with an open field. "The Troll Kongs' intelligence is similar to that of a chimpanzee. So it's normal for them to do things like throw venomous snakes or dig pitfalls." He placed his hands on his hips and looked out to the open field. What greeted her sight caused her to nearly faint. He continued on, "But, the ones that don't resort to petty tricks are the most terrifying."

"T-T-Toriko-san..." she whimpered.

Arrays of different yelping, hooting, roaring, growling, and barking surrounded them. They were surrounded by sizeable angry Troll Kongs that was all ready to rip them apart.

"Now then," he calmly said, "the Rainbow Fruit is before our eyes, Komatsu."

She felt her life flashing before her eyes once again. Her eyes watered realizing that perhaps her time really had come.

"-Matsu, Komatsu!" he called for her attention.

She slowly looked over and managed to squeak out a response.

"After we get back, take a week off from work at the Hotel." He gave her a big smile, "you probably wouldn't be able to move an inch because of all the muscular soreness anyways."

"E-Eh?" her brain was still in shock-mode, and she had no idea what he was implying.

"GOOARRRR!" A mighty roar signaled the Troll Kongs to lunge towards them.

"Komatsu! Cling to my back with all your body and spirit!" he barked his order, "believe the whole time that you'll die if you loosen your grip for even a 100th of a second!" he crouched down for her to crawl on his back.

"Y-yes!" she yelled as she jumped on his strong back. Her arms wrapped around his neck, "will we be able to get out of this alive?" she anxiously cried out.

"Heh, I dunno, you better pray!" he said.

She felt her whole body lift up from his back when he would jump side to side to avoid the Troll Kong's attack. She could hear a cacophony of low growls and the ground shattering from the impact the beasts and Toriko were making. She chanced to open her eyes and immediately regretted it as she saw how close she was from being punched to death by the Troll Kongs. She could feel the Troll Kong's breathing down her neck. Her arms clutched Toriko's neck tighter in pure desperation.

"Knocking!" he yelled, and she felt her whole body turn upside down as he would somersault over the Troll Kong's punches. He used knocking on at least ten Trolls before having to replace the battery.

The Troll Kongs stopped attacking momentarily as they observed their fallen comrades. They began to circle him, eyeing the knocking device in his hand.

"T-Toriko-san! Why are you using knocking?" she shivered in fright, "t-they'll just wake back up again!"

"I told you," he said before sighing in exasperation, "our goal is only the Rainbow Fruit," he finally clicked in the battery for his knocking device, "the Troll Kong's meat is all sinewy, so you can't really eat it."

"E-eat?"

"I don't kill prey unless I have the goal of eating it." he simply said, "if I don't eat it, I don't kill it!" he readied his fighting stance with the knocking device in hand fully charged, "that's my rule."

She stared at him in awe, utterly speechless. She winced when she felt something cold hit her cheek. She looked up, and soon more raindrops fell on her. After a few seconds, there was a complete downpour.

A small respite past before the Troll Kongs gave out a mighty roar to prepare the pack to fight viciously once more.

He adjusted his stance by a few centimeters, "a Troll Kong pack has a hierarchy. Until we beat the _boss_ , they won't stop attacking." As soon as he finished the statement, the Troll Kongs were right in front of them with their massive arms raised. Toriko deftly dodged all of their attacks by jumping, spinning, and sidestepping while using the knocking device on them.

"Damn! There's no end to them!" Toriko frustratingly said. He dodged an incoming punch, but his arm was grabbed by another Troll Kong in his blind spot.

She looked up to see a Troll Kong with only one eye. Its hand was large enough to grab all of Toriko's forearm. "GYAHH!" she screamed. She could see Toriko's skin twisting from its tight grip.

"This is legitimate self-defense, so don't think bad of me," he said before using his other arm to strike its arm. "Kni-!"

The one-eyed Troll Kong suddenly let go of his arm, and Toriko shuffled forward to regain his balance once again.

"Alright," he said before flexing his muscles.

She could feel the muscle on his back bunching up, and a cold shiver passed her that reminded her of the dark spirit that would come just before Toriko made his final blow. She looked up to see the Troll Kongs all standing their ground in hesitance. Perhaps they could also feel the unwelcoming chill that Toriko was emitting. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a different colored Troll Kong. This Troll Kong had silvery white fur and was standing the furthest away from the pack. The silver Troll Kong looked up to the sky before running away.

The sky rumbled in warning and seconds later a bright flash of lightning struck the ground between the pack and them.

"Gah!" Toriko grunted in surprise. The sheer force of the lightning caused a hole and left a black singe. "That was close, if that struck the Rainbow Tree, it'd be all over!" he quickly surveyed the area before he clicked his tongue in annoyance. "We have to hurry up and find the boss... which one was the first to get surprised by the lightning bolt?"

"Wait... Toriko-san, wouldn't the boss be the one that's surprised the least?" she questioned as she imagined a Yakuza boss being fearless.

"It's the opposite, in the animal kingdom, the most crucial ability for a pack's boss is _crisis management_ ," he said as he continued to look amongst the Troll Kongs, "that doesn't just apply to Troll Kongs. It's the boss's job to be the first one to sense danger." Her body swayed left and right as he looked around the area.

"To sense danger..." she murmured and recalled seeing the different colored Troll Kong, "Toriko-san..." she remembered the silver Troll Kong looked up to the sky and as soon as he ran away, lightning struck. "Before lightening struck, I think...I did see one guy running away first."

"What?" he turned his neck to look back at her, "which one?"

She looked amongst the black fur Troll Kongs and spotted the silver Troll Kong to the far left, "Over there," she pointed, "the one with the silver fur."

He looked to the left before chuckling, "We found him, the Silver Back." he cracked his knuckles, "you could also call him the Head Troll..." he nudged his head to lightly tap hers, "good job, Komatsu!"

"A-ah it's really nothing..." she said in embarrassment as her forehead buried deeper into his hair. It was an extraordinary experience, somehow at one point, she started to calm down while being on his back. She felt like she was a bystander and almost felt like she was in a disembodied state. In that state, her field of vision widened, and even when the lightning bolt struck near them, she didn't even flinch. She stared at Toriko's blue hair, the reason she was able to calm down was likely because the evil spirit that he was emanating was scarier than the Troll Kongs, but she also felt very protected by this veil of an ominous presence.

Toriko casually walked through the pack of Troll Kongs. She was amazed how all of them did not move an inch. They finally reached the Silver Troll Kong, and Toriko stood right in front of it. The Silver Troll Kong was trying to intimidate him by snarling with his mouth wide opened. Toriko stood tall, unflinching, and merely raised his hand as the Silver Troll Kong lowered his head to be patted.

The rest of the Troll Kongs started to bow to the ground, and thus ended the battle between Toriko and the Troll Kongs.

"A-amazing..." she whispered in astonishment as he just tamed one of the most vicious beasts to man.

They walked past the Silver Troll Kong who still had his head bowed. She was on his back as she felt unsafe to get off his back in case the Troll Kong decided to attack her. They walked a few meters and was greeted by a large tree with eight large Rainbow Fruits individually hanging from the thick stems.

The rain subsided, and the clouds started to part ways for the sun to peek out. As if the Gourmet Gods blessed their finding, the sunlight shone at the Rainbow Fruit which sparkled in all the seven colors of the rainbow.

"W-..." she stared in a dazed, the fruit looked so surreal and seemed like it came out right from a painting. Her arms loosened around his neck and she slipped off his back. "Ahk!" she yelped as she landed on her feet before stumbling back down to her butt.

He chuckled, "shocked to see the Rainbow Fruit?"

"O-of course!" she exclaimed before tearing up, "this is the legendary Rainbow Fruit that I thought would only see in fairy tales, Toriko-san!"

"Heh," he smirked, before jumping up at an impressive height to cut one Rainbow Fruit off the stem. He landed gracefully, and they both gulped as the scent of the sweet Rainbow Fruit hit them. The Rainbow Fruit was huge, the height of the fruit rivaled Toriko's height.

They heard a groan from behind, and she saw the Silver Troll Kong in front of the rest of his pack. They were looking at the Rainbow Fruit in Toriko's hand, and somehow it looked like they were worried.

"Don't worry," he said to the Troll Kongs, "I'm only going to take one. I have no intention to threaten your way of life."

Perhaps she just imagined the expression on the Troll Kongs' faces, but they almost seemed to sigh in relief. Her heart warmed at Toriko showing so much compassion towards beasts that many people would have no qualm killing. "Toriko-san."

"Hm?" He replied.

"You're really amazing." She said with a sincere smile. There was a space of silence where he just looked back in confusion, and she realized what she just said. Her smile cracked, and she felt her cheeks tingled hotly. "I-I mean, the way that you-you fought the Troll Kongs, and then and then..." her words tumbled together to an incoherent explanation.

"Oh!" he said in realization, "Troll Kongs are violent in nature, but they have pretty easy attack patterns once you get used to it," he said dropping another ounce of his infinite wisdom regarding beasts. "If you ever need help learning how to fight, I can teach you some moves." He said as they walked past the Troll Kongs.

She sighed in relief that he didn't take it the wrong way, although did he seriously think she had a body made to fight those giant beasts? She chuckled in bafflement, "thanks, Toriko-san, I will keep that in mind."

* * *

They trekked for 30 minutes across the Garden, and it started to pour again. She felt her clothes sticking to her body and her sweat mingled with the rain from the hot climate here. They finally arrived at the bridge, and she noticed workers already trying to patch up the hole Toriko made.

"W-wow, they certainly work fast..." she observed.

As they passed the group of workers, they all stopped their tasks and saluted to Toriko. He just waved at them as greeting and they opened the gate.

"Toriko-san." one of the guards saluted, "your ride will arrive in 5 minutes."

"Thanks," Toriko said.

"Miss, would you like a blanket...to cover up?" the guard asked.

"E-eh?" she was confused as to cover what exactly? She followed the guard's gaze and realized her white t-shirt was completely see-through from the rain. They could see her black bra as clear as day. "Y-YES!" she yelped in embarrassment as she quickly covered her chest with her arms.

The guard saluted and jogged over to the cabin attached to the wall.

"T-Toriko-san!" she cried, "why didn't you say anything?" Her whole face felt flushed as she realized that not only had Toriko seen her bra the entire time, but the workers AND the guards saw it too.

"Eh? It's just a bra." he said simply, "what's there to be embarrassed about?"

She was starting to question if Toriko actually saw her as a woman, or if he really had no idea of any of the social implication of when a man sees another woman's intimate wear! She was about to retort but saw the same blank expression he gave her when he fished out her white undies after the Galala Crocodile experience. She sighed heavily, "n-never mind." Somehow she felt too exhausted to try to explain this to him.

"More importantly, look at this Rainbow Fruit Komatsu!" he said with his tongue rolled out. "Look at the size and the heft!" he started to lightly bounce the fruit with his one hand.

"Toriko-san really only has food in his mind," she sighed in exasperation.

* * *

Toriko and Komatsu arrived at one of the IGO's headquarters, and Johannes was waiting in front of the front entrance. "I'm glad you both have made it back safely, Toriko-san and Chef Komatsu."

"Yo," Toriko casually greeted.

"The IGO would like half of the Rainbow Fruit, and of course we will reward you for your labor and for the ingredient," Johannes said.

"Wow, even with half, that's still plenty to make tons of dishes with the Rainbow Fruit, Toriko-san!" Komatsu said.

"Alright, deal," Toriko said.

Johannes bowed and gave Toriko a silver briefcase that was probably filled with stacks of bills. "Please wait in the lobby while we cut the fruit in half."

"Eh? I'll just cut it in half with my _knife_." Toriko said while holding up his hand.

"With all due respect, the IGO would like it to be _exactly_ half," Johannes said while adjusting his sunglasses.

"Eh? You guys are so stingy." Toriko said while sighing as he walked into the entrance. More IGO workers wearing black-tie suits came to lift the Rainbow Fruit. It took nine men to raise the fruit to place it on the trolley.

"How about you, Chef Komatsu?" Johannes asked.

"Huh?"

"Would you like a ride home?"

"O-oh, uhm..." she looked at Toriko's retreating back and realized she didn't want to go home just yet. "C-can I wait with Toriko-san?"

Johannes stared at her under his sunglasses for an awkward moment before he finally said, "as you wish."

She finally released a breath she didn't know she was holding. _What was that all about?_ She thought suspiciously as she followed Johannes into the building.

The lobby reminded her of the typical ten-star hotel. The golden chandeliers hanging emitted a warm orange light, and the floor was laid out with a burgundy-colored carpet. Toriko was sitting on the love seat couch while his foot tapped the floor in impatience.

"Toriko-san!" she called, and he looked up in response. She walked towards him and sat next to a single seater couch adjacent to his seat. "What are you going to do with your half of the Rainbow Fruit?"

"I'll probably sell most of it to the World kitchen," he said.

"Eh?!" She looked at him as if he was insane, "b-but Toriko-san, surely someone with your appetite would want to each the whole Rainbow Fruit! Especially since we went through so much trouble to get it too..."

"The Rainbow Fruit is a really rare ingredient," Toriko said.

"E-exactly!" she exclaimed, "that's why-"

"It's because it's rare, that I want other people to try this delicious fruit."

"Huh...?"

Toriko scratched his cheek with his index finger, "well, delicious food is meant to be shared right?" he said with a big innocent smile.

She opened her mouth to retort before closing it. There really was no way of winning against this man. They sat in silence, giving her a moment to reflect on Toriko's statement. __Delicious food is meant to be shared__ _..._ she looked over at Toriko, and it was true that as a chef her happiness came from seeing people enjoying her cooked meals.

"Komatsu," he called out. "I've decided what I want to do with my part of the Rainbow Fruit." he gave a toothy grin, "after sharing the piece to the World Kitchen, I want you to make me the most delicious dessert you can with the Rainbow Fruit!"

She blinked once. Then twice. "You...want me to... make your dessert with it...?" she asked again slowly hoping she didn't perhaps mishear.

"Hm? You don't want to?" he asked.

She definitely wanted to, but she thought he would ask a much higher tier chef to handle his Rainbow Fruit. After all, with his money and influence, he could easily hire ten stars or higher chefs to cook for him. She opened her mouth to say something but realized no words could possibly describe the honor and the happiness she felt from being chosen to cook the phantasmal fruit. Without thinking, she stood up and tackled Toriko into a tight bear hug.

She started to cry, "I do, I do!"

"Hey! You're getting snot all over me!" he exclaimed as he lightly pushed her away.

"It's... it's 'cause I'm sho happeh!" she cried harder as she buried her face in his chest.

"Okay, okay," he said while patting her head, "you're really happy, I get it."

She finally let go, and after a couple of sniffles she said, "You also said you wanted to eat at my restaurant right?" she gave him a wide smile, "if you give me three days, I'll convince my manager to reserve the restaurant and I'll cook our restaurant's full course menu!"

"OH! Seriously!" he whooped, "I can't wait!"

She giggled at his genuine excited expression, "me too!"

It was only after she arrived home, took a shower, and laid in bed that she realized she hugged and smeared snot all over Toriko. "WAHHH!" she yelled in realization. Her neighbor's dog started barking, and her other neighbor yelled at her to pipe down. "A-ah sorry!" she said meekly before stuffing her face with her pillow in embarrassment.

She really needed to distance herself from Toriko before her feelings developed any further. She wouldn't call this feeling "love" but, she had enough experience to recognize the signs of a developing crush. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to squash whatever budding feelings she may have for Toriko before it got too late.

* * *

\- To be Continued -

* * *

 **Question Time!: Who else thinks Troll Kongs are kind of creepy looking?**


	4. The Rainbow Fruit

A/N: Welcome to Chapter 4! Originally, this chapter was part of chapter 3. But then the chapter got to be very long, and it was hard to read through it all in one sitting for me when I was trying to edit. Hence the quick update of this chapter!

This chapter will deviate a lot from the original story as I'm trying to flesh out my characters a bit more for my version of Toriko! This is just a small filler! I'm trying to portray Komatsu similarly to the series but at the same time, I'm trying to think how will certain personality traits differ from being a female. I was watching the show and I noticed Komatsu actually cries quite a fair bit and is highly emotional. So we shall see where that takes us!

 **Lastly, this chapter is heavily focused on Komatsu's current emotional state.**

I hope you enjoy it regardless!

Special Shoutout to **konan248**

 _ _Thank you for your kind review!__

* * *

 ** **Chapter 4: The Rainbow Fruit****

* * *

Three days passed in a jiffy, and Toriko was right about Komatsu's muscles being tender after the Troll Kong incident. There was a sharp shooting pain throughout her body, and she had trouble holding her knife steady. She took the first two days off writhing in pain. On the third day, all the chefs from both dayshift and nightshift gathered.

"Okay, everyone." Komatsu called for everyone's attention, "Toriko-san is a really big eater. Meaning, I want you guys to think of it as cooking enough food for a full house... better yet, we'll probably end up using all of our stock."

All the chefs murmured in disbelief.

She clapped to get everyone's attention once more, "Toriko-san is coming in about three hours. I want my line cooks to start prepping, and I want Mary-san, Dolan-san, and Sam-san to help me with the dessert."

"Yes!" all the chefs said.

Komatsu and her top picked three chefs came around the back. She opened the box, and the sweet scent of the Rainbow fruit hit her nose full force! Her mouth started watering, and she had to control herself from drooling all over the fruit. "Okay guys, I need some ideas on what sort of dessert to make with the Rainbow Fruit."

"What about a parfait?" Mary said.

"Mhm, we wouldn't be able to use a lot of the fruit because the taste will overpower the rest of the other ingredients in the parfait," Komatsu explained thoughtfully.

All four chefs stared at the fruit. Dolan was about to say something but shook his head and pondered some more.

"Chef Komatsu," Mary finally said, "the Rainbow fruit is delicious in itself, we can just cut it and serve it as is. That way we can focus our attention on the other meals."

"That's a good idea," Dolan said.

"Yea, it is," Sam agreed along.

She understood where Mary was coming from but, Toriko entrusted her to make the most delicious dessert she possibly could. To serve it just as is seemed almost like she would be betraying Toriko's expectations of her as a chef.

A sigh escaped Mary's lips, "Komatsu-chan," she put her hand on Komatsu's shoulder. She finally broke the facade of being just coworkers and started talking to her as they would have outside of the professional setting, "this is clearly very important to you." Mary had been friends with Komatsu since culinary school, and she seemed to understand Komatsu's mind very well.

"It is..." Komatsu sighed dejectedly. "I'm sorry, I know I'm just wasting everyone's time like this, but-!"

"Say no more," Mary interjected, "We'll pick up the slack for the prep work. Once you decide on what to do with the Rainbow Fruit, call us over. Okay?" she gave a thumbs up and a warm smile that touched Komatsu's heart greatly.

"Thank you!" Komatsu said as she bowed to the three chefs in gratitude for fulfilling her selfish request.

"Alright, let's go Dolan, Sam," Mary said, as she pushed the two other chefs out the door.

"Alright, alright," Dolan whined.

"You don't gotta push us," Sam groaned in annoyance.

Dolan and Sam went back to the main kitchen, but Mary stayed behind. "Hey, Komatsu."

"Ah yes?" Komatsu replied with an absent mind while staring at the Rainbow Fruit.

"Is everything alright?"

"...huh?" that took Komatsu's attention away from the Fruit. "Wh-what do you mean?"

Mary looked at her with concern written all over her face, "it's just... recently you been skipping a lot of work... and you're coming to work with bruises..."

Komatsu looked down at her arms, and there was an ugly purple bruise she got from her Rainbow Fruit adventure with Toriko. "Ah-hah, this?" she pointed to her bruise, "don't worry, I was just a klutz!"

"H-he's not hurting you, is he?" Mary asked skeptically.

"E-eh? Who?" This time Komatsu was confused as she couldn't imagine Toriko ever laying a hand on her with the intention to hurt.

"Your fiancee, dummy!" Mary said with her brows knitted together.

"M-my fiancee...?" Komatsu forgot that no one knew about her break up yet. "We..." she trailed on and realized that she wasn't ready to confess yet. She felt her palms starting to sweat, and she began to touch her ring finger expecting to feel the cold touch of the metal band. When her touch only met her bare skin, reality came crashing down on her yet again.

"...Komatsu?" Mary called.

"Ah, y-yes!" Her voice shuttered.

"We're going to talk after this." Mary finally said.

"E-eh? W-what do you m-mean? Haha..." she laughed to deflect the seriousness of the situation, but her laughter came out dry and hoarse, "there's nothing to talk about, Mary-chan..." She didn't want to talk about it, and she was hoping Mary would drop the subject. But one look at Mary's resolute face and she knew Mary was not going to drop it. She sighed in defeat, "I..." she didn't know what to say next. She knew Mary was very stubborn but with good intentions.

"Koma-chan..." Mary called her nickname which always made her break to Mary's will, "you know that I'm here for you no matter what. But if you don't want to talk I understand..."

She was shocked to hear Mary giving up! Never in her years of knowing Mary did she just dropped the subject so easily.

"But," Mary started, "I'm going to wait for you."

"E-eh?"

"After the dinner tonight, I'll wait for you on the 34th floor at the bar." Mary said, "if you don't come then you don't have to say anything, but if you do come, you better be ready to spill."

Komatsu was confused to stay the least; she never thought Mary would take such an indirect approach.

"I can see the question you want to ask on your face, Koma-chan," Mary said with a small smile, and Komatsu shivered a bit as she would never get used to Mary reading her mind. "But, knowing you, if you're trying to cover your feelings this much, it must be very serious, right?" Mary hugged Komatsu tightly, "you know I love you and I only want the best for you."

"M-Mary-chan..." Komatsu started to tear up, she already felt like spilling everything right here, right now. "Mary-chan, I-!"

"MARY-SAN!" Sam angrily yelled around the corner. "What are you doing back there, we need your help!"

"OKAY!" Mary aggressively yelled back, and Komatsu winced as Mary just yelled right into her ear. "Damn annoying fart," Mary mumbled afterward. She looked at Komatsu before patting her shoulder, "34th floor after dinner. Be there or be square." she winked before sauntering off back to the kitchen.

Komatsu was now alone with the Rainbow Fruit. Her hand reached the shoulder Mary patted. She took a deep breath in then out. All she had been doing for the past few days was skirting along the line between denial and acceptance of her Fiancee calling off their marriage. Quite frankly she was starting to get sick of this emotional roller coaster. It had been last week since she received the heart-breaking letter of her fiancee wanting to end the relationship of three years. No matter how hurt she would be once she confessed to Mary about this breakup, it was hopefully a step forward in letting go, right?

She slapped her cheeks, and the light sting cleared her mind of all the dark thoughts. "There's no time like the present!" she exclaimed, if she didn't face this demon today, then when would she?

With a lighter heart from this new resolution, she was ready to tackle the second task at hand: figuring out what to make of this Rainbow Fruit.

She took the leftover piece of the Rainbow Fruit out of the box. It was still pretty sizeable even after giving away 90% of the fruit away. She admired the texture and the rich, sweet scent that came from it. She set it down on the table and stared at the fruit some more, pondering on what sort of dish would be best suited for this ingredient.

...

...

...

"GAH!" she finally screamed in frustration. She didn't know at all! The pressure of having to make the best dessert for Toriko was hindering her thinking process. "W-what should I do..." she could hear her kitchen staff working hard to prep the food, and she was sitting here doing...nothing. "M-maybe we should serve this as is..." she finally sighed in defeat.

Strangely enough, at times she could feel a sudden gravitation pull towards specific ingredients. She couldn't accurately explain it, but it felt like someone was whispering in her ears. She stared at the Rainbow Fruit as it sounded like the Fruit was crying out not to be served as is. In frustration, she said, "I know...I don't want to serve you as is either! But I don't know what to do that will best showcase your taste!" As if the fruit listened to her lament, her eyes widened at the sudden inspiration striking her.

"A Rainbow Fruit Jello?" she pondered, "it's true that the Rainbow Fruit has a unique property that changes the taste depending on the temperature..." She picked up the piece of Rainbow Fruit, "S-somehow... I think this fruit will be best enjoyed at five degrees." She finally smiled in excitement, "And, and, there are no ingredients that can compete the taste of the Rainbow Fruit when it's made into a Jello!" Grabbing the fruit, she quickly ran to the kitchen to tell the Chefs of her new revelation. _I hope Toriko-san will enjoy this!_

* * *

7 o'clock came, and Toriko arrived right on the dot. There were 15 waiters dedicated to serving Toriko's Food.

In the kitchen, all the chefs were cooking in a frenzy.

"OK ON THE MILKY SALAD," one of the chefs yelled as he placed it on the cart.

"THE WHITEHEAD SHARK MEUNIERE IS COMING UP!" another chef yelled as he placed his dish on the cart.

This had been a rigorous battle of cooking and already two hours had passed as Komatsu was running around the kitchen checking the final dishes and cooking the higher capture leveled ingredients.

"HEAD CHEF! HEAD CHEF!" a chef called out to Komatsu.

"Y-yes? Urk!" She winced as she catered her tender left shoulder, "ow, ow, ow..."

"A-are you okay?" the chef asked with worry marked on his face.

"It's nothing!" she smiled while rubbing her shoulder blade gently, "the muscle soreness still hasn't gone away." she rolled her shoulder, and the pain momentarily subsided, "anyway, what is it?"

"Ah yes! It's...uh... the supply of ingredients..." the chef looked nervous to continue.

"Has it run out?" she finished his sentence and giggled lightly when the chef's face paled in response, "it's aright Tony-san, I expected that would happen. Let's bring __that__ out, shall we?" she grinned.

"Oh! You don't mean the Rainbow Fruit!" Tony started to drool, and she couldn't blame him; the smell was intoxicating.

"Chef Komatsu." Mary brought the cart out with the Rainbow Fruit dish sitting on it.

"Huh?" Komatsu looked at the cart as Mary rolled it to her.

"It only makes sense for you to serve the highlight to your guest, right?" Mary said.

Komatsu stared at the dish covered with a silver lid, before giving Mary a grateful smile. She grabbed the handle of the cart, "I...hope he likes it..." she finally managed to squeak out.

Mary gave a hard pat on Komatsu's back, and she winced in pain as the muscle soreness came back again. "Ow!" she screeched.

"Chin up, Head Chef Komatsu." Mary snickered, "have some more confidence in your ability."

Komatsu chuckled as the nervousness was patted out of her by Mary. She gave Mary a small nod in response. She took a deep breath before finally exiting the kitchen.

As she walked towards Toriko, she couldn't control herself from the smell of the Rainbow Fruit any longer. She could feel her mouth starting to drool from the scent alone. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Toriko-san." she said, "here's the main dessert, the Rainbow Fruit." she uncovered the lid to show him her Rainbow Fruit Jello.

In response, Toriko stood up from his chair. He stared at the dish and started to drool uncontrollably.

She stared at the Rainbow Fruit Jello and marveled at the fruit juices evaporating to create a beautiful small rainbow. "A-as I thought, it would be more delicious to eat the fruit like this." She too started to drool more as the sweet scent whet her appetite, "I kept the fruit's temperature at five degrees Celsius." She tried to gulp down her excess saliva, "as time passes the temperature will go up, and the flavor will change along with it." She beckoned Toriko to the dish, "Go-Go ahead, and please enjoy it slowly," she gulped more saliva down trying to keep her composure, but ultimately she failed.

"You're drooling too much, Komatsu," Toriko said.

"S-so are you, Toriko-san!" she quickly retorted. She just couldn't control herself, never had she realized a dish could make her salivate in want so much!

"Now, itadakimasu!" Toriko said before taking a scoop of the jello.

She stared in anticipation and envy as she saw the jello slowly entering Toriko's mouth.

As soon as Toriko tasted the jello, his eyes widened in shock. He looked up at the ceiling and started to cry! Komatsu was shocked, were that tears of happiness or disappointment?

"T-Toriko-san?" she was worried about what to come next as she never really seen Toriko cry.

"Yum!" he cried out loud much to Komatsu's relief. "I've decided on my dessert."

"Eh?" her heart was pounding hard in her chest, he couldn't mean his full course menu of life?

"Three years ago in that town, the fortune I was told was right on the mark," Toriko said as he wiped away his tears. "Komatsu!"

"Y-yes?" she replied.

"Gather all the staff!" he said while laughing, "I finally decided on an item for my full course menu."

Now she felt like crying; she couldn't believe she was able to witness one of the top bishokuya deciding his first ever dish on his full course menu. "Hold on Toriko-san, I'll gather the rest of the staff from the kitchen!" she said before running to call everyone out to the dining area.

Toriko raised his glass, "let's celebrate everyone! This Rainbow Fruit Jello is delicious, and it's going to go on my full course menu. Drinks are on me."

Everyone laughed and cheered and raised their glass to celebrate. Komatsu called the bar on the 34th floor to see if they could have alcoholic beverages delivered as she knew that Toriko would be drinking a lot tonight. Much to the Komatsu's delight, the bar owner happily complied.

A few minutes later, the workers from the bar brought trollies with boxes full of different alcoholic beverages.

"Komatsu!" Toriko called to her attention by waving his hand and invited her over to his table.

"Yes, Toriko-san?" she said as she saw there was only one scoop taken out of the Jello.

Toriko scooped another spoonful, but instead of stuffing it in his mouth, he hovered it near her mouth.

"E-eh?" she looked at the spoon before looking back at Toriko in confusion. There was also a sense of deja-vu that she was in this very similar position before.

"You didn't get to try this out yet, did you?" he asked.

"U-uhm, n-no... but..." her cheeks tingled as she looked around the room. More than half the employees were drinking to their heart's content, but a few coworkers were staring at her while she was placed in this weird position. Her eyes locked with Mary's and she was giving her a confused look with one eyebrow raised. She stared back at Toriko with his ever-innocent and clueless smile of the social implication he was placing her in.

"What's wrong?" Toriko asked in confusion, "You don't want any?"

"T-the whole dessert was made just for you, Toriko-san! I couldn't possibly..." she said as she clasped her hands together from fidgeting.

"Komatsu, delicious food is meant to be shared!" he simply said. "I know you wanted to try it," he raised the spoon and pointed to her lips, "you haven't stopped drooling," he teased her with a goofy smile on his face.

Komatsu quickly wiped the drool from her lips with her sleeves. "I-I was not!" she denied pathetically.

"Anyway, just try it. We got this together right?" he implored.

The gelatin on the spoon jiggled as if it was enticing her to consume it. She looked to the rest of the staff members, and it seemed most of them were not paying attention to them anymore. Plus, she was over thinking it! It's just a taste, right? Plus Mary and her share food all the time like this when they wanted the other to try their food. There's nothing to be ashamed about from eating off the same spoon that he used, right? With false inflation of confidence, she stared at the jello in determination. She gulped and said, "t-then...itadakimasu," she softly said before tucking some pieces of hair behind her ear. She closed her eyes while she opened her mouth wide enough to fit the whole spoon.

She didn't have time to feel embarrassed for her decision, as the taste changed seamlessly one after another in her mouth. Her legs felt weak from the powerful impact of the taste from the Rainbow Fruit, and she slid down to the floors on her knees. She cupped her cheeks with her hands as she kept chewing the soft jello. She tasted the sweetness of a 100 mangoes, then the sourness of lemons, with the tartness of kiwis. She finally gulped the viscous jello down, but even passing down her throat there was an explosive presence. The aftertaste still lingered, reminding her of broiled sweet chestnuts. She closed her eyes to savor the taste before finally opening her watery eyes, "Yummy..." she weakly said.

Toriko laughed at her before placing the dessert in the middle of the table. His voice boomed, "for all of you who wants to try the dessert, it's here."

All the chefs stared at the dessert like hungry hyenas. And one by one, the ambitious ones of the bunch came up to the plate and ate one spoonful before reacting similarly to Komatsu as they cried to the heavens of the deliciousness.

"T-Toriko-san... you only had one bite though?" she was startled as she knew how much of a glutton Toriko was. But seeing him show restraint from eating THE Rainbow Fruit was too weird.

"I really think," Toriko took a whole bottle of bourbon and popped the top off, "food is more enjoyable when you have people to share the experience with." He chugged the bourbon in one gulp, "don't you think so, Chef Komatsu?"

She looked around the room and saw people dancing, and laughing in glee at the taste of the Rainbow Fruit. She even heard someone scream, 'Chef Komatsu's dessert is out of this world!' She understood what Toriko was saying because part of the reason why she cooked was not only for the enjoyment of eating delicious food but to see the happiness her cooking could create. "I understand..." she softly said, before looking up to smile at the great bishokuya, they called Toriko.

"Come on, drink with me Komatsu!" Toriko happily exclaimed.

"O-okay!" she happily complied when she raised her glass of amber-colored whiskey. They both drank a cup, then two, then three...

...then she lost count after that.

* * *

After the party, most of the chefs were thoroughly hammered. Komatsu drank her share, and she was feeling a bit more than buzzed. She was leaning against Mary as they walked up to her apartment.

"Geez, Koma-chan, I've never seen you drink that much." Mary sighed.

"I didn't drink –hic – that much..." Komatsu pouted as she collapsed on to the couch.

Mary sighed again, "okay, well sleep on your side in case you puke. You don't want to choke on your vomit and die. 'Cause that's a pretty shit way to go." She took her keys and was about to leave.

"W-wait!" Komatsu called out. She finally sat up and stared at her fidgeting fingers. "I...I'm maybe a tad drunk... but I... still want to tell you!"

"Huh?"

"Otherwise, I know I'm definitely going to get scared to tell you once the effect of alcohol wears off!" Komatsu said with her head hung in shame.

"You're using alcohol as a means to confess," Mary said in a deadpanned voice. "You do realize how terrible that could go?"

"B-but," Komatsu started to tear up, "I wanted to tell you, I really do! I just..."

"Fine, fine." Mary conceded and sat next to Komatsu on the couch. "But I hope you realize you're a very...emotional drunk."

"I-I am not!"

Mary just looked at her in disbelief before sighing, "alright...But I really think it's better to talk about this when you're ...sober."

"I'm not -hic- that drunk!" Komatsu declared strongly.

"...mhm." Mary continued to look at her with disbelief before shaking her head. "Whatever you say, Koma-chan. Let's hear it."

Komatsu thanked whoever invented alcohol as all of her fears and worries seemed minuscule and pointless. She liked the feeling of the warm fuzziness alcohol was creating for her. Take-chan..." as soon as she mentioned his name, she felt a small inkling of fear. She shook it off before finally spilling everything out, "Take-chan left me a week ago."

"...Where's the bat?" Mary asked in a low voice.

"Huh?" Komatsu dumbly replied.

"I'm going to bash his face in," Mary said with a dangerous smile.

"W-what!" Komatsu shrieked, "Y-you can't, Mary-chan!" she said as she hugged Mary's torso tightly.

"I'm just kidding...kind of." Mary said, "but why did he leave you?"

Komatsu continued to hug Mary, relishing in her warmth and the light scent of lavender. "I think... we weren't just the right match..."

"Did you confront him?" Mary asked.

Komatsu just shook her head, "I'm not ready to..."

"So you just let him walk away after he said with his stupid voice, 'let's break up'?" Mary asked with disbelief laced all over her tone.

"...he left me a note..." Komatsu stuffed her face deeper into Mary's stomach.

"That sonuvabitch." Mary growled lowly, "that coward, gaudy, dumbass of a -"

"Mary!" Komatsu finally lets go and stopped Mary from going any further into her tirade. "I...I'm sure I'm partly to blame for why he left me."

"What? No, no, no, don't say that Koma-chan!" Mary gabbed Komatsu's shoulder trying to reassure her.

Komatsu knew better and just shook her head, "I was so focused on work every day, day in and day out. Remember when I used to work every day?"

Mary nodded hesitantly.

Komatsu continued, "it was getting harder to talk to Take-chan when he had his ambition of bringing fame to his Fairytale Castle, and I wanted to advance my cooking skill." This was it; she was finally facing her shadow of denial that was clinging on to her while she was in a relationship with Ootake. "I think..." she started to tear up, "I was unhappy Mary-chan." Finally, one tear escaped and slid down her face sluggishly, "I kept telling myself that I was happy, that we were the perfect fit since we were both aspiring chefs." Another tear fell, "but I knew that Take-chan was unhappy that I was still a chef. He'd rather I stayed at home and be a good housewife instead." More tears slipped out until it formed a small puddle in her hand, "I couldn't say no to him, I couldn't tell him what I really wanted to say, so instead I bargained my passion... my dreams with him!" She covered her face with her hands in frustration and shame. "So I said to him that I was just going through a phase... and to just give me one more year" a bitter chuckle escaped her lips, "...and after that year, I was going to quit for good."

"Koma-chan..." Mary's voice croaked, and she rubbed Komatsu's back to soothe her turmoil away.

"It hurts... that Take-chan left me. I hated myself, thinking I lost a good life." Komatsu finally uncovered her face, and the cool air caressed her hot face. "But somewhere, deep inside, I was relieved." She felt her face morphed into disgust, "relieved that he left me and that I didn't have to give up on my dreams." She laughed bitterly, "perhaps Take-chan saw that I was forcing myself to be happy about his idea, I definitely smiled a lot less after agreeing to give up my dreams." She stared at her hands, noting the small calluses on her palms, "that's why, even though I'm hurt, I feel like I shouldn't have the right to be angry. I never tried to talk to Take-chan about my true feelings, and we didn't properly try to discuss our future together." She sighed in defeat, "this relationship was going downhill the moment we stopped talking, Mary. That's why I think a part of me accepted that the relationship wasn't meant to last. A part of me was prepared to accept that I was no longer in love with Take-chan..." she saw Mary's sad eyes, and it hurt her to see Mary so worried for her, so she gave Mary a weak reassuring smile, "but...I'm recovering! Every day, the pain of him leaving me is lessening. I find myself smiling more and more, and recently...I've decided I was definitely going to work my way to being the top chef!"

Komatsu realized that time would eventually heal all wounds, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next month, but she knew that she couldn't let herself give up on her future just because Ootake left her. Her dreams...no...her aspiration was calling out to her. She knew that it will be hard to move on. She knew that it won't be easy and that there will be days where she will regress back to the once heartbroken girl. But she couldn't give up! She needed to take one step at a time and keep moving forward.

Komatsu gave a soft chuckle, "I wish I talked to you about this sooner... but I guess I been going on crazy adventures with Toriko-san."

"I know!" Mary exclaimed, "You're crazy! How could you go on such a crazy adventure after an awful breakup girl?" She raised her index finger and wiggled it left and right, "you need some wallowing session. Last time I checked, it was chocolate, wine, and sappy movies!"

Komatsu laughed awkwardly, "I guess because of the adventures, I was always exhausted when I got home. So I never really gave myself the time to sort out my feelings." she looked to Mary and gave her a heartfelt smile, "thank you, Mary. I'm glad I could face this while you're here."

Mary's eyes watered before hugging Komatsu tightly, "you're such a good kid, Koma-chan!" She tightened her hug, "but you're really going to be okay?"

"I think I will be..." Komatsu patted Mary's back, "Going on adventures with Toriko-san really opened my eyes to the world we live in, and it's really enjoyable seeing where our food comes from!"

Mary parted from Komatsu and leaned her shoulder against Komatsu's. "So you're feeling this way after going on adventures with _Toriko,_ huh?" her voice raising into a teasing tone.

"E-eh?" Komatsu stared at Mary's profile, "W-what are you talking about?" she asked, feigning ignorance.

"You're not trying to fill a void that Take-chan left, right? By going on these life-threatening adventures?" Mary turned to Komatsu and stared suspiciously, "not to mention, what is your relationship with Toriko?" She raised one of her perfectly sculpted brows, "don't tell me he's your rebound?"

"..." Komatsu blinked once before finally registering what Mary said, "W-what?" she exclaimed, "No, no, of course not!"

"You ate off his spoon in front of all your coworkers today." Mary pointed out.

At that, Komatsu felt her cheeks burning, "Y-you saw that?"

"Everyone did."

"I...But..." Komatsu sheepishly laughed, "Toriko-san...doesn't see me as a woman anyways, so there's no way anything is going on between us."

"I'm not asking about that; I'm asking what you feel towards him."

"What...I feel?"

"Going on these adventures. Skipping work. Not knowing if you'll come back alive the next day. I'm worried, Koma-chan," Mary's voice turned somber.

Seeing Mary's tired face, Komatsu's heart sagged with guilt from worrying her friend to this degree, "But, Toriko-san is really strong!" she placed her hand on Mary's for reassurance, "and going on adventures with Toriko-san is something I don't...won't regret!" She gave Mary's hand a small supportive squeeze, "I'm learning so many new things traveling beyond the four walls of my kitchen, Mary-chan."

They locked into a silent staring contest, both unyielding their points before Mary finally sighed, "alright, just be careful..."

"I will!" Komatsu exclaimed happily as she received Mary's blessing.

A period of comfortable silence fell between them until Mary finally spoke, "So, you and Toriko huh?"

"There's really nothing going on," Komatsu said flatly.

"Wow, that was a fast rejection."

Komatsu rubbed her eyes trying to dispell the haziness from her mind, "I thought that maybe I was falling in love... and I would be lying if I wasn't partially using these adventures to get away from confronting my feelings of the breakup. But, I realized maybe the life-threatening adventures are pumping adrenaline which brings out my endorphin, and I'm mistaking that for love?" she finished triumphantly.

"Wow, even while drunk you're still spewing that crap."

"Wha- it's not crap!" Komatsu defensively said, "I don't know much about Toriko-san, and on top of that Toriko-san lives out in the boonies. He goes on adventures every day, possibly mostly alone, so I really think that maybe he doesn't know the boundaries between males and females!" She finally looked down, "I think I'm just assuming intentions that were never there to begin with."

"Hmmm?" Mary hummed before snapping her fingers as if she had an epiphany.

"Wh-what?" Komatsu stuttered, unsure if she really wanted to hear what Mary was thinking now.

"I guess now it makes sense."

"Wh-what makes sense?"

"Well when Toriko was feeding you, he kind of reminded me of a mama bird feeding the youngun's." Mary giggled.

"..." Komatsu was speechless before plopping her head down on to her couch. She realized that perhaps Toriko did see her as a helpless baby bird, "I really don't have any sex appeal do I...?"

Mary only laughed harder in response.

Komatsu feigned a heavy sigh before bursting into a raucous laughter. How silly the whole situation seemed to be! She could feel the warmth from the alcohol, and her head buzzed louder, disquieting all the terrible memories and the emotions that came with it.

Everything was drowning.

Her love.

Down.

Her regrets.

Down.

Her loneliness.

Down it all goes.

Everything flushed down into the dark recess of her mind. Ah...everything seemed so clear and simple right now...

No...her mind was empty but her chest was still hurting. It must be the heartburn from the alcohol!

Komatsu's laughter finally died down, and they settled back into a comfortable silence.

A few moments later, and Komatsu finally asked, "do you think I'm going to remember our whole conversation from tonight?"

"You're probably going to have random gaps in your memory, sweetie," Mary said pointedly.

"I don't want the feeling of disappointment and frustration to come back the next morning." Komatsu draped her arms over her eyes. "I want to feel what I'm feeling now. Nothing."

"I know..." Mary said, "but I don't think alcohol is the answer."

Another period of silence.

Komatsu felt her eyes watering. She sniffled trying to stop the waterworks. "W-why am I crying, Mary-chan?"

"You're drunk," Mary simply said.

Komatsu finally sat up and sobbed even louder. Suddenly, all the emotions she was trying to keep in place, all the emotions she thought she finally resolved, came tumbling right back down to square one. "I..." she hiccuped, "I hate Take-chan!" she finally exclaimed.

"I know." Mary quietly said.

"I hate..." Komatsu clutched her chest, "I hate feeling this way!"

"I know." Mary hugged her and her head was resting on Mary's chest.

"I hate...feeling abandoned..."

"I know..."

"I hate...I hate..." she couldn't finish her sentence. Right now, it was just raw, selfish emotions bubbling up. Earlier she tried. She really tried her best to stay rational when explaining her feelings to Mary. But, it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to relieve the pain that Take-chan still left her with.

"Koma-chan..."

Komatsu's shoulder shuddered into a quiet sob. Her eyes were feeling sore from crying so much. "I-if... Toriko-san saw me now...he probably would call me a crybaby..." she tried her best to lighten the mood. She wanted to pull herself together; she couldn't bear to burden Mary any longer!

"I could see that." Mary chuckled while rubbing Komatsu's back in a soothing circular motion. "But, I'm not Toriko. I'm your best friend. So you should cry to your heart's content, Koma-chan."

Mary's word only incited more tears, but this time they were tears of gratitude. Komatsu cried for however long until her eyes were too dry to produce any more tears.

A moment of silence, before Komatsu's stomach churned in uncomfortably. "Hey, Mary-chan?"

"Hm?"

"I think I'm going to throw up." Komatsu hugged her stomach.

That night, Mary held up Komatsu's hair while Komatsu retched out everything from her stomach into the toilet.

Komatsu swore at whoever invented alcohol.

* * *

The next morning, Komatsu woke up on the couch with a splitting headache. She groaned as she struggled to open her eyes. On the coffee table was a glass of water, a bottle of painkillers and a note. She reached for the bottle of painkillers, popped two in her mouth, and washed it down with the glass of water.

"Ugh..." she moaned. She laid back down on her couch, and lazily picked up the piece of paper.

 _Yo Koma-chan,_

 _Last night sure was crazy. I can't believe you streaked naked in the restaurant! LOL._

"WAIT, WHAT?!" Komatsu shrieked before cringing from another sharp jab to her head. "Ow..." She winced before reading the rest of the letter.

 _I'm just kidding._

At that, she rolled her eyes. Typical of Mary to pull that sort of prank on her.

 _Anyway, don't worry about work today. I told the boss you will be taking the day off since you're probably too shitfaced to come to work._

And another eye roll.

 _Love,_

 _your greatest friend in the world._

 _P.S we need a girl's wallow night and this time properly talk about your stupid ex._

Suddenly, memories rushed into her head of crying, more crying, and then puking. She buried her head in her hands and moaned in embarrassment. How could she possibly have acted this way in front of Mary? She remembered bits and pieces of the conversation but, the rest was a blur. She hoped she didn't say anything weird! She closed her eyes trying to recall what she actually said, and the only thing that she was able to recall was her confession of how she felt about Take-chan.

She really shouldn't have talked to Mary while she was drunk. Alcohol only amplified her emotions, and she knew very well that she was already a very emotional and sensitive person when sober. She can only cringe at how over the top she would be when drunk.

She was definitely going to get teased by Mary for sure! She stayed on her couch before slowly sitting up. Her head was still throbbing, but nothing she couldn't handle. She felt her face tight and tingly from all the crying she did last night. She just wanted to jump into a hot shower and wash away her tear stained face and sweat.

Mustering her strength into her legs, she managed to finally stand up. Just before she entered the washroom, she looked back to her living room area. She smiled at Mary's note resting on her coffee table.

Somehow her home felt less spacious, and just a tad bit less lonely today.

* * *

 **\- To be Continued -**

* * *

 **Question Time!: If the Rainbow Fruit does exist, how would you like to prepare/eat it?**

 _Next chapter will be updated sometimes next week._


	5. Enter Coco, the Gentlemen of the Kings

_A/N: Welcome to chapter 5! It's the beginning of a new arc! I lied in the last chapter about this being updated next week... more like next year! Haha (I'm sorry)_

 _A guest left a question – I have no way of replying to them so I will respond to them here!_

 _Q: I love this chapter! I really like the interactions between Komatsu and Toriko. Though is Toriko a love interest for Komatsu? If he isn't, ok then. If he is, that might take a while. Who is a love interest? I'm so curious :3_

 _A: Honestly, this may disappoint some of you readers, but I seriously love all of the heavenly kings. I haven't FULLY decided on who, but judging on the amount of interaction Toriko has with Komatsu, it will inevitably end up being Fem!Komatsu x Toriko. (_ _But I'm still thinking_ _, it depends on how the chemistry turns out between the characters)_

 _ **P** **.** **S** Sorry for the REALLLLLLYYY late update!_

 _But one thing I can assure you guys – I will always try to finish writing the RAW draft of the whole ARC before I post it. I would hate to leave you guys months in the middle of an arc. At least give you guys some closure. Haha._

 _ **P.P.S** Thank you to everyone who followed, favourited, and reviewed my story despite the long hiatus. The activity on my story relit the passion inside of me to finish this darn story!_

 _Okay, enough, dilly-dallying. Enjoy this chapter!_

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Enter Coco, the Gentleman of the Four Heavenly King** **!**

* * *

It had been one week since the Rainbow Fruit fiasco. Komatsu lazily brushed her teeth and dragged her feet into the living room. She turned on the news to fill the quiet morning.

"Next is about the Legendary Puffer Fish Whale!" the TV announcer enthusiastically said, "you heard it right, folks! There's a rumour floating around that a herd of Phantom Fish Whales, often called the deep sea delicacy _Puffer Whales,_ are to migrate to a shallow sea for their once-in-a-decade of egg-laying!"

Komatsu's paused brushing her teeth and enviously thought of how great it would be to try cooking the Puffer Fish Whales. "Haha, but there's no way that's going to happen!" she skeptically said. After all, it was just a rumour, a tabloid at best.

"It seems the Gourmet Stock level, specifically companies that are hiring bishokuyas to capture the legendary Puffer Whales, are rising dramatically! The IGO's legal team are working away to determine if this rumour is true or not. Back to you, Tina!" The TV announcer said before Komatsu turned off the TV to rinse her mouth.

She brushed her hair and applied a rose lip tint to bring out some colour. She couldn't wear makeup, as working in the kitchen would end up with her sweating it off anyway.

She arrived at the restaurant at 6:30 am on the dot. "Ah, good morning, Manager!" she greeted the nervous balding man.

"A-ah, Komatsu!" Smith said, "the bishokuya isn't here, is he?"

"You mean Toriko-san?" she asked, confused as to why Smith would care if Toriko was here or not.

"The legendary Puffer Fish Whale is said to have appeared, so I thought that _bishokuya_ would whisk you away!" Smith sobbed in dismay.

"Well, that's only just a rumour, manager! There's no way Toriko-san would go off on just a silly rumour!" she said, laughing at Smith's dramatic nature.

"R-really?" Smith cried while grabbing her shoulder, "if you're not here, the restaurant just feels like it's falling apart."

Her face felt warm, and she scratched her cheek with her index finger as a nervous tick, "don't be like that, Manager. Mary-san, Dolan-san, and Sam-san are great chefs, if not better than me!"

"Oh, don't be so humble, Komatsu!" Smith wailed, "I'm just so glad that you're back to your regular working schedule."

She smiled gently; her manager was a very kind-hearted man. Suddenly, Smith's face turned ghastly white."E-eh? Manager!" she cried in worry, "you're looking a bit pale."

"Komatsu!" a voice matching a certain blue-haired man called out to her.

She turned around to see Toriko giving her a quick wave, "T-Toriko-san?"

Toriko walked over and easily towered over the manager and her, "have you heard about the legendary Puffer Fish Whale?"

"A-ah, yes, but that's just a rumour, isn't it?"

"It's not," he smirked.

"E-eh?"

"No! Absolutely not!" Smith interrupted, "Komatsu, don't tell me you're going to skip work today!"

"A-ah..." she looked at the grief-stricken man. She was unreasonable if she asked Smith to skip work right on the day of. She sighed, knowing there was no way she could get today off, "I'm sorry, Toriko-san. I have to give the manager some notice before I can ask to take a day off work." She felt a pang in her chest, knowing that she may have missed a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the legendary Puffer Fish Whales. Her inner chef was crying in dismay. Unfortunately, in her case, adventures don't pay for her bills.

Toriko pondered for a bit before snapping his fingers, "Oh, is that all?" he said, "then we'll depart tomorrow."

"E-eh? Tomorrow?" she repeated, wanting to make sure she heard right.

"Yea, that's no problem right manager?" Toriko bent down closer to the manager's height and grinned while flashing his sharp canine teeth. "After all, you got _some_ notice."

She could only sweatdropped, wanting to tell Toriko that typically the workplace needed an advance notice of two weeks.

"Just let her go, manager," a new voice called out. It was Mary walking towards them while stretching her arms up in the air. "What are you gonna do? Fire your _best chef_?" she taunted.

"A-ah, Mary-chan!" Komatsu yelped in distress when Mary casually mentioned the idea of firing.

"I could never fire Komatsu-chan!" Smith declared passionately.

"Eh? _Chan_?" Mary raised her eyebrows, "Hooo, Manager's getting a bit bold these days, eh Komatsu?" she nudged Komatsu's arm.

Smith turned bright red as he huffed loudly, "w-well, as long as Komatsu is working today, then she can get a day off tomorrow."

"E-Eh? Is that really al-" Komatsu started before Toriko's voiced boomed.

"Sweet!" Toriko cheered. "Ah, I'm hungry, is your restaurant opened?" he asked as he followed behind a snickering Mary and a grumbling manager into the restaurant.

Komatsu watched their retreating backs while trying to process what the heck just happened.

Somehow...Toriko managed to get her a day off tomorrow.

* * *

The next morning, Komatsu was packing all of her essentials. Since this time it was seafood, she probably would have to go underwater. She was searching through her swimsuits and realized they were all fairly old tankinis. She regretted not going swimsuit shopping with Mary when she was asked to go last month. She sighed in discontent as she searched through her current inventory of bathing suits. She saw her favourite white tankini with a wine red trim. There was a red lily print on the bottom of her tankini.

Memories of Ootake complimenting her swimwear popped in her mind.

" _That looks really great on you, Koma-chan."_

"..."

"..."

She couldn't wear this. So she opted for just a plain black tankini with white ribbons attached to the sides of the bottom.

She wore her tankini underneath a beige crewneck top. She slipped on her khaki pants and decided to wear black rubber boots for this trip.

She mulled over what else she needed. If there was a possibility of cooking the pufferfish, then she needed her apron. She could go for the full chef uniform, but then her bag would get bulky, which wasn't ideal if she was planning on walking around a lot. She looked at the plain white apron hanging from her chair; she supposed that was good enough.

At 6:00 am, she was waiting at the train station for a certain blue-haired man.

"Komatsu!" Toriko called; he was wearing a tight orange spandex jumpsuit with a black tee underneath. She could see his defined muscles through his clothes, which left little to her imagination.

"G-Good morning, Toriko-san!" she gave a small bow hoping he didn't notice her ogling at his body.

"Yo!" he greeted back. The train whistled for the passenger to start entering, "ah, here just in time!"

When they entered the train, she fished for her wallet to pay for a ticket.

"You don't gotta pay, Komatsu." He said.

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"Bishokuyas ride this train for free, and since you're with me, you get a free pass," he explained.

"O-oh..." She had no idea that Bishokuya received such special treatment.

They found a whole cart to themselves and settled into a booth with plush seats and a large table. She set her backpack next to her and felt the seat shift towards Toriko when he sat down next to her. "By the way, Toriko-san... were you hired by the IGO corp to capture the Puffer Fish Whales?" she asked.

"Nah, I just want to eat the Puffer Fish Whale," he said simply.

The first two times were just her luck that she got a chance to go on an adventure with Toriko. The first time was using the company that hired Toriko to tag along, and the second time was just by chance encounter with Toriko at the World's Kitchen. But this time, Toriko actually sought her out to come with him. Her cheeks felt warm, to stave off her one-sided awkward feeling, she blurted the first thing that came to her mind. "A-are you going to tell me to write my will?"

"You should always have your will written with every adventure you go on with me," Toriko replied a bit too seriously.

She wasn't sure whether he was joking or being serious with her, most likely the latter. In any regard, that response killed her mood and conversation.

The stewardess came by with a beverage trolley just in time to break up the tension, "can I interest you to any drinks?" she asked.

"OH!" Toriko exclaimed, "give me four of everything you got."

"Yes, sir." the stewardess gave a slight bow, "it will just take a moment to bring the rest, but please enjoy what I have right now on hand." She placed shot glasses in front of Komatsu and Toriko. Then she put a tray of different citruses, followed by sealed bottles of varied liquors. After the stewardess emptied her whole cart, she gave a small bow once more before leaving.

"T-Toriko-san... isn't that a bit too much alcohol?" Komatsu said and winced from her recent memory of drinking a bit too much and having to nurse a killer hangover.

"Nah," Toriko said as he poured a whole bottle of _Cectus Jeck's Tequila_ in a sizeable cup. He picked up a wedge of lemon and sucked it dry before downing the entire cup. He let out a content sigh, "That was good! Platinum lemon goes really well with Tequila! Right, Komatsu?" He said as he pushed a normal sized shot glass of tequila in front of her.

She stared at her shot glass now full to the brim with tequila. The burning smell of alcohol assaulted her nose. She did tell herself she will slow down on the drinking after the last party with Toriko, but one couldn't hurt, right? She took a wedge of lemon and sucked it. Her lips puckered out from the sourness, "Ugh..." She then picked up the shot and downed it as quick as possible. "Gah!" she stuck her tongue out from the intense, fiery sensation clawing down her throat. "How can you drink a 750ml bottle of tequila in one stroke..." she barely even survived a shot of this.

He just laughed, "we have to drink to celebrate, right? After all, we're gonna meet the legendary Puffer Fish Whale!"

"Haha, I guess so..." she said as Toriko ordered enough alcohol for at least a party of 30.

The stewardess later came back with boxes of alcohol, and soon Komatsu was surrounded by crates filled with alcohol. "Oh, can I also order some food too?" Toriko said.

"Certainly," the stewardess said as she brought out her note pad, "What can I get you, sir?"

"Mhmm..." Toriko looked at the menu before saying, "ah, just give me one of everything," he paused shortly before adding on, "oh, and can I get some more alcohol?"

"Certainly, sir." The stewardess was not at all fazed by Toriko's appetite.

"Great! Then seven more of each, please!" He happily ordered.

"Of course, sir," then the stewardess looked at Komatsu, "and you, miss?"

"O-oh!" Komatsu scrambled to look at the menu, "uhm, just a fruit salad, please..."

"Eh, you're only going to eat that?" He looked horrified at her choice.

"W-well, I'm nervous and excited! So it's hard to eat when I'm feeling all jittery!" she defended.

He cracked opened a bottle of brandy this time, "that's true the Puffer Fish Whales are such a delicacy that only comes once every ten years...though..." he took a swig at the bottle, "there is just one problem."

"A problem?" She asked.

"These Puffer Fish Whales are extremely poisonous."

She clasped her hands together in delight, "if you're talking about the license to take out the poison in a pufferfish, I've got it!"

He downed the whole bottle and picked up another bottle, this time it was a 1987 Crown Scotch, "Even I got that sort of a thing, the problem is that it's not going to be that easy."

"Ah, yeah I thought so," she laughed awkwardly, "the Puffer Fish Whales are classified as a _special caution food_."

"Yea, and it's said that there are only ten cooks in the world that can successfully take out the poisonous organ."

After hearing that statement, she realized that she doubted Toriko knew how to take out the poison sac, and she certainly didn't know how to take out the poison sac. "Uhm..." she hesitatingly asked, "you do know someone who can take out the poison sac right...?"

"Well..." he took a sip of his scotch, "he isn't necessarily a cook, but-"

Suddenly a loud shatter interrupted their conversation. "WUURRAAAAA," an unpleasant screech followed after. She peered past Toriko's large body and saw a boorish large man with a long moustache that was attached to his sideburns. He held a broken glass bottle and pointed the sharp edges threateningly to everyone. "GIMME SAKE, YOU BASTARD!" he yelled while swinging the broken glass bottle around.

She cringed at his large axe strapped behind his back as well as his weird fashion statement of only wearing a simple fur... dress? In fact, he reminded her of a caveman, plus her face distorted into disgust from seeing more than she would like as he wasn't wearing any pants.

"Why aren't there any good liquors on this train, huh?" the caveman's voice boomed out loud, "this freaking piece of junk!" He was looking around and met Komatsu's stares. "Hey, hey!" he angrily growled as he walked towards Komatsu and Toriko's booth, much to her dismay. "I was thinking that the quality of liquor here was shit, but it was you who bought it all!"

Toriko just glanced up to see the hulking caveman breathing heavily down at them.

"You shitty bastard!" the caveman sneered, "do you know who I am?" he rummaged through his clothes until he pulled out a piece of crinkled up paper. On it was written, "Full Korse Menu." Komatsu looked at the paper with a disappointed sigh; she couldn't believe he misspelled the word "course" and was proudly showing it to people.

"Oy, you spelled the word _course_ wrong." Toriko pointed out light-heartedly.

"SHUT UP, YOU BASTARD!" the caveman screeched, "I'm Zonge, a bishokuya! Look at my full course menu and tremble in fear, you bastard!"

Komatsu leaned a bit forward to try and read the terrible scrawl on the paper:

ZONGE FULL KORSE MENU

HORS D'OERUVRE – GOLDEN SALMON ROE

SOUP – THE SOUP OF SERPENT FROGS

FISH DISH – STRIPE SALMON

MEAT DISH – CRAB PORK

MAIN – GALALA CROCODILE

SALAD – ALMOND CABBAGE

DESSERT – WHITE APPLE

DRINK – ENERGY HENNESSY

 _Uwahh_ , Komatsu was definitely impressed all right, _you can get all of these ingredients at a local supermarket,_ she thought. Now that the Galala Crocodile was able to be cloned, it was more accessible to the public.

"See this!" Zonge pointed at his main dish, "My main dish is the Galala Crocodile!" He looked at them smugly, "I killed it just a while ago!" he stuffed the sheet of paper closer to Toriko's face, "You surprised? You're shaking, right? HAHAHA"

One of his goons who wore a similar outfit spoke out, "Zonge-sama, please don't pick on the likes of him. I mean, he's trying way too hard to impress that lady over there." he pointed right at Komatsu.

She gave him a blank stare, if only he knew that Toriko did not see her as a woman in any aspect. She looked over to Toriko, who had his eyes closed with a small smile on his face.

"Wh-What's wrong with you?" Zonge screamed again, or was that his normal volume?

Suddenly, Toriko stood up from his seat. Zonge took a small step back and had to tilt his head up to see Toriko's face. Toriko clasped his hand on Zonge's shoulder, "Zombie-kun! Well, that's a pretty impressive course right there!" his voice was light and friendly, yet somehow he still managed to make himself intimidating. "If you want some liquor, take as much as you want!" he patted Zonge's shoulder again, "After all, it's my fault for buying them all for myself, Zombie-kun!"

Zonge just stared before squeaking out, "I-it's Zonge...remember my name..." he said weakly. He shrugged off Toriko's hand and picked up a whole case of sake, "Y-You haven't seen the last of me, you bastard!" his voice trembled as he quickly retreated.

After they left the cart, Toriko sat back down in his seat and finished the rest of his scotch.

"Are... are you okay with that, Toriko-san?" she asked, after all that guy seemed like bad news, and she would rather not make any enemies.

"With what?" he asked, completely unfazed from the whole event.

"Well, I mean, that challenge right now..." she was worried about their safety.

He shrugged nonchalantly, "His real purpose was probably not the liquor..." a small pause, "probably."

"Eh?" she tilted her head in confusion.

He rolled his shoulders before sitting more comfortably in his seat, "this train is filled with bishokuyas, and all of them are seeking the Puffer Fish Whales." he pointed at the cart over, and she could see one man wearing a cloak glaring at them before turning away. "It's possible for them to fight over the few whales on site," he gave a confident smirk, "they're all sizing each other up, and I'm sure that Zombie guy is just trying to intimidate the others."

"Then he's just a bully!" she exclaimed, "why would you give him your liquor for free?"

His eyes seemed a bit distant, "as they say, _in travelling company, in life's sympathy._ " He rolled the bottle back and forth in his hand, "there are times when we need to help each other out."

She understood where he was coming from, except she doubted that caveman guy needed any help considering he was bullying others to get what he wanted.

"E-excuse me...?," a raspy voice spoke.

She saw a shivering old man, with a white pompadour. He was hunched forward, and his age rendered him from standing up straight.

"Can...you spaaare mee shome liquor pleash...?" the shivering old man had a bit of a lisp, and she noticed some of his teethes were missing, "I'm kinda not good with high places... so wheneva I looka outa windows... I get so scared I can't stand..." the shivering old man chuckled.

"Are you trying to get rid of the terror by getting drunk?" Toriko asked before noticing the shivering frame of the old man, "or are you sure you're not shaking before you ran out of alcohol?"

The old man laughed again, "well, there is that too..."

Toriko downed his last drink, and he pointed to the crate still full of various alcohol, "you can have all of them, mister. We're getting off the next station anyway."

"Eh...? the next station?" the old man asked.

On cue, the announcer informed the passenger of the next stop, "The next stop is Gourmet Fortune, Gourmet Fortune."

"Ah..." The old man nodded in understanding. He struggled to grab the cart under the table, and feeling bad for the frail old man, Komatsu got up from her seat.

"Let me help you, mister." she said, "where are you sitting?"

"I can just sit right here," the old man said as he pointed to the booth right next to them.

"Okay!" she said, before taking a deep breath and strained herself to carry the crate. It was heavy, but it was still manageable.

"Oh my, you're so strong, miss." the old man said.

She laughed lightly, "it's really nothing..." she set the crate on the table.

"Thank you for the liquor, _hic_ , I will someday repay _hic_ -" the old man had trouble finishing his sentence without hiccuping.

The train finally stopped, and the doors opened. "Don't worry about it, old man," Toriko said, "just don't drink too much!"

"Ah! You shouldn't be talking, Toriko-san!" she quickly remarked, pointing at their table that was littered with over at least 50 empty bottles of alcohol.

Toriko laughed heartily, and she shook her head in bafflement.

"I hope you have a nice trip, mister!" she said to the shivering old man. With a final wave, the doors closed and the train chugged along.

Toriko and Komatsu walked out of the station, and she looked back at the train now in the distance, "I gotta say, Toriko-san, that was my first time seeing someone sporting a pompadour!" she adjusted her bag, "that old man sure was funky..."

Toriko pulled out a cigar and lit it; he took a long drag from it. "We're here, Komatsu."

"Wah! So there's someone who lives here that can handle the Puffer Fish Whales?" They walked until they entered the street with buildings and houses lined up side by side. She looked around, but there wasn't anyone in sight. "Huh? I don't see a single person..."

"Hmm." he pointed to the sign next to her, "maybe it's time for the wild beasts to come out?"

"Eh, wild beasts?" she gasped as Toriko pointed at the caution sign for wild beasts sightings. "Ack! It's true! There really are wild beasts here!"

"They come up from time to time," Toriko said. "The fortuneteller of this town predicts when the wild beasts will arrive, and the citizens will hide within their poisonous walls."

"Poison...?" she murmured in confusion.

"There hasn't been a single person that was attacked in a few decades," he took another drag of his cigar, "and that's why people say this town's fortuneteller is reliable."

"Now that I think about it," she was trying to remember where she heard this information from, "someone said that the rumours of the Puffer Fish Whale originated from this town." she looked up to see Toriko casually smoking his cigar, "and because of that, the stock market is in turmoil right now." She looked back at the deserted streets and noticed someone walking towards them in the distance. "Ah!" she pointed at the person, "Toriko-san, there's a person! Even though it's a dangerous period right now!"

The mysterious person kept walking and just as he passed a building, something crept up behind him. It was a large dinosaur with black bat-like wings. It was snarling at the person and opened its' mouth, ready to eat him! "W-WATCH OUT!" she screamed in fright. The person didn't notice on time, and the beast lunged forward. She closed her eyes, unable to look any longer.

"It's alright, Komatsu," Toriko said.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw the beast sniffing the person before turning its' head and walked away. "Eh... what happened?"

The person continue to walk towards them until they stood face to face with Toriko.

The man wore a black suit with green bandages wrapped around his wrists, elbows, waists, neck, and head. He also wore a large beige cape.

"What a troublesome customer to have," his voice was velvety smooth, "I would say the beasts here are much cuter."

Toriko gave a raucous laugh, "did ya finish up your full course menu yet, Coco?" he gave a large grin, "or should I say, _the gentleman of the four kings_?"

Coco smirked and said, "three more, I guess. How about you, Toriko, or rather, _the glutton of the four kings_."

She stared at the man clad in black named Coco. "To-Toriko-san... you don't mean to tell me...he's one of the..." without meaning to, her voice raised higher, "FOUR HEAVENLY KINGS, BISHOKUYA COCO-SAN?" she stared at Toriko in disbelief, "Did you mean him when you talked about the one who can handle the Puffer Fish Whale?"

Toriko dug into his ear with his pinky finger, "Hey, you're being too loud Komatsu!" he looked at her with exasperation, "you get too excited easily, be surprised more peacefully.. or gracefully."

Her face started to heat up, "ah! I'm sorry," she said, "W-wait? Surprised more peacefully?" she looked to Toriko again in confusion.

"Don't mind too much about it," Coco said, "Clear water breeds no fish... which means people are more likeable when they have some sort of a bad habit." he gave her a warm smile, "your impoliteness shown by your eyes can actually make people feel your affability."

She just laughed nervously while thinking, _UWAH...what an unpleasant encouragement!_

"What was that loud, rude voice just now?" a voice yelled out.

"What was that vulgar scream I heard?" another voice screamed.

 _Wahh_ , Komatsu wanted to cry in embarrassment. Her voice wasn't that rude, or vulgar, was it?

"Is the beast gone yet?" another voice asked.

The people of this town slowly emerged from their homes.

"AHH COCO-SAMA!" one of the ladies squealed.

"IT'S COCO-SAMA!" another lady squealed just as loud.

"YOU TOOK CARE OF THE BEAST FOR US!" another older lady bayed out.

"KYAAA COCO-SAMA!"

Suddenly, flocks of ladies from different age groups all ran to Coco. They were hugging and grabbing him.

"As expected of Coco-sama!"

"Fantastic!"

"Coco-sama, tell me about my destiny. Especially yours and mine!"

Komatsu stared in awe, "Wow, Coco-san sure is popular here." Although, she kind of felt bad how incredibly uncomfortable Coco looked from all the touching and the attempted kissing. These ladies were definitely bold.

"Ahk!" Coco yelped, "S-stop it. Stop touching me!"

"S-should we help?" Komatsu asked Toriko, but he was just laughing at the display.

"Ahk!" Coco yelped again, "I will not be foretelling anything today!" He tried to drag himself closer to Komatsu and Toriko. His cape was being pulled apart, "Tori-ahk-" his cape was being pulled back into the crowd of aggressive ladies, "Toriko! We'll change the place for now!" Coco was trying to push off a woman climbing up his arm, "Let's talk at my place with food."

Komatsu could only stare in stunned silence from Coco's aggressive fans. She wondered why there were no ladies flocking over Toriko?

"Food?" Toriko asked. Immediately from hearing the words, Toriko jumped into the crowd and hoisted Coco up like a sack of potatoes. Using his other hand, he was shooing everyone away. "Hey, y'all! Are y'all chickens? Get away from here!"

"AHK! What's with this giant?" A lady shrieked.

"AHHH! He's a yeti, a yeti!"

"A yeti? More like an ape!"

"EWWWW!"

The crowd of ladies all backed away, screaming in disgust. Well, that answered Komatsu's question. "Toriko-san, they called you an ape..." she said, trying to stifle her giggling, "even though you have the charisma of the Gourmet Era, you need more of a celebrity aura!"

"I don't give a damn about that," Toriko huffed, "who are these people anyway?"

"They are my customers...forgive them for their...reaction." Coco awkwardly said.

They exited the town full of Coco's fans and was now walking up a gentle slope. Coco was leading the group to his home.

"Coco-san, do you do fortunetelling on the side? After all, your primary job must be being a bishokuya, right?" she had so many questions to ask Coco as she never saw him in any of the _Bishokuya Times_ magazine.

"That's my main job at this town," Coco replied.

"Really?" She wondered why Coco would choose fortune-telling as his main job when he was one of the Four Heavenly Kings. She thought he would hunt for ingredients like Toriko.

Toriko took out another Cigar and started smoking it. "Hmph, the old man is probably lamenting right now." he took a long drag, "by the way, what happened to Zebra?" he asked.

She was now completely lost in their conversation and silently listened.

"He got caught. Right now, he's in Gourmet Prison." Coco replied.

"Wahaha," Toriko laughed loudly, "that problem child finally got caught, huh?"

"It was unfortunate and unavoidable..." Coco said, his voice went soft, almost melancholic.

"Haha..." Toriko's laughter died down, and the air suddenly felt heavy. "Remember the days when we trained ourselves?" he asked, "in that nostalgic garden?" He took another long drag of his cigar, "and in time, we got called to be the Four Heavenly Kings."

"Hmph, what an old memory," Coco said, before stopping in his tracks. "There's my house over there."

She wanted to ask more questions about their past, but she swallowed down her curiosity. It wasn't her place to probe at such a sensitive topic. When Coco said they've arrived, she looked around and couldn't see a house anywhere. "But Coco-san, there's only a cliff..." her words died down when she noticed in the distance, a small house perched on the lonely rocky pillar. "W-wait a second..." she pointed to the house in the distance, "is that your home, Coco-san?" her mouth was opened in shock, how the heck are they suppose to get across there?

"KISS!" Coco called out.

"CA-CAW," a large black crow immediately swooped down next to Coco.

"W-WAH!" she screamed in fright, "a crow monster!"

"Alright, Kiss. Get down." Coco commanded. The crow listened dutifully and folded its' wings and cocked his head sideways as if waiting for his next order.

"Hoh, I see," Toriko said, "the ruler of the sky, Emperor Crow. Was it not an extinct species?"

Coco patted the crow, and the crow nudged his head closer to Coco's body. "He's part of my family," Coco gently smiled, "Now, Kiss, can you carry three people? Toriko's really heavy, you know."

"CA-CAW," Kiss replied.

"Alright, so I'll go on first, then Toriko, then Komatsu," Coco ordered.

"Alright," Toriko said as he saddled the bird after Coco sat down on Kiss. "Come on, Komatsu."

She took a hesitant step forward, "A-ah, okay..." she said, as she realized that if she fell off, she was done for. She was in front of the small space Toriko made for her. She almost wanted to sit in the middle so that her front and back would be protected. "Uhm... could I sit in the middle?"

"I'd rather you not touch me, Komatsu-san." Coco coldly said.

Her shoulders tensed, "A-ah, sorry!" It made sense since Coco was being swamped by a flock of ladies, and her being a woman would most likely make Coco feel uncomfortable. She stared back at her seat and took a deep breath. Her hands trembled as she climbed over the crow.

"CA-CAW!" Kiss chirped.

"Ahk! S-sorry, am I hurting you!" She freaked out, not knowing if the bird would throw her off the cliff.

"He's just telling you to hurry up," Coco said.

"Ah, yes!" she replied and leaned against Toriko.

"You better hold on tight unless you wanna fall off," Toriko snickered.

She hugged Toriko's torso tighter in response, too terrified to retort.

* * *

The flight to Coco's home was quick and gentle. Coco's home was quite cozy and quaint. She looked around to see various jars of spices and herbs all perfectly maintained.

Coco started to take out the teacups, "Ah! Coco-san, please allow me to help you!" she said, as her hand brushed against Coco's hand when she tried to take the tray from him. He flinched from her touch, and she quickly retracted her hand. "S-sorry..." she bowed several times, knowing that Coco already told her not to touch him.

"Ah, no, it's alright," Coco said and gave her what seemed to be a sincere smile.

She was confused about how one moment he seemed to really dislike her and then at other times, he seemed to be quite polite. She decided not to push her luck, "P-please let me help you with any food prep...or anything!" she said.

Coco completely ignored her and began to take out some plates and cutlery.

The silence was deafening, and she felt maybe she said something wrong? But what did she say? Ah, he did say she was rude. But, she didn't know what part of her was rude. What should she do? She was waging an internal war with herself.

"I'm hungrrry!" Toriko whined from the dining room.

"Sorry..." she whimpered, "I don't mean to trouble you... I'll excuse myself..." she said with a forced smile. Best to not push her luck any further with Coco, as she didn't know what would set him off. After all, it seemed that Coco was quite the opposite of Toriko, who was very friendly to everyone and had no qualms with skinship. She was stupid to think that Coco was like Toriko. Obviously, she shouldn't treat them the same! Perhaps that was the rude part of her personality?

She walked out of the kitchen with her shoulders sagged and sat down next to Toriko.

"Hm, what's wrong?" Toriko asked.

"I think Coco-san hated me." She replied, while burying her face in her hands.

Toriko just laughed, "I told you to be surprised more peacefully!" completely missing the mark on her troubles.

"Yes, yes." she was already exhausted, and the day had barely even started!

Soon, the house was filled with a variety of different smells. She could hear the sizzling of something frying and the pots clanking together as Coco cooked for them. Her fingers were itching to hold a knife and help out with the cooking. But she had to show restraint. Coco seemed like a man who enjoyed and _want_ his _solitude_.

One by one, various dishes covered the table. She stared at the creamy pasta with Zesty Yellow Parsely sprinkled on top of it. Her eyes sparkled from seeing how Coco cooked his meal and the ingredients he chose to cook with. Toriko picked up a drumstick in one hand and held a spoon in the other. He took a bite of the drumstick then scooped spoonfuls of rice in his mouth. Coco started to pour tea for all three cups. He placed a cup in front of her, and they gave each other a forced smiled. _Oh God, this is so awkward_ , she thought in trepidation.

She hesitantly picked up a sandwich and observed the simple ham sandwich. She took a small bite, and immediately her senses tingled in delight. The ham was so savoury. The bread was soft and fluffy. The tomato exploded its' juice in her mouth, and the lettuce was crispy with tantalizing sweetness. She took another bite, and she hummed in pleasure. "Yummy..." she said as her eyes closed, enjoying the bursts of flavour and texture.

She heard a small chuckle, and her eyes shot open. She saw Coco trying to stifle his laughter behind his hand.

She smiled shyly, "It's... really good."

"I'm glad," Coco said with a gentle tone.

Her heart skipped a beat, realizing one of the reason of why he had so many female fans.

"So Toriko," Coco said as he refilled Toriko's cup with more tea, "have you've decided on the Rainbow Fruit as your dessert dish?"

"Yup!" Toriko replied with his mouth full.

Coco chuckled, "so I've told you the right thing." He opened the lid of the teapot to ensure that he still had enough tea leftover, "Well, I really like your choice; the Rainbow Fruit's taste changing seven-time is quite interesting, and the taste gets better near the end." He refilled Komatsu's cup, "But on the contrary, perhaps your meat dish should be something fundamental, like thick and heavy perhaps?" Coco finally looked up, and his face fell into an exasperated expression. Komatsu started to feel bad for Coco as Toriko definitely stopped listening right about now and was too focused on eating.

Coco gave an unimpressed look while calmly sipping his cup of tea. Komatsu couldn't believe there was such a stark difference in personality between the two.

Toriko munched onwards, and in between bites, he managed to finally say, "Hey Coco, did you think I came all the way here just to tell you my menu?"

"Are you here to request assistance?" Coco took another small sip of his tea, "Is it about the Puffer Fish Whales?"

"Yep, that's it!" Toriko exclaimed as he took a huge bite of the pasta, nearly finishing the whole plate in one bite.

Her mood perked up, "Could it be...?" she couldn't believe she got to see someone prepare the Puffer Fish Whales right in front of her! "Are you able to remove the notorious poison sac, Coco-san?"

There was almost a black substance creeping over the right side of Coco's face. Startled, she blinked her eyes, thinking her eyes were playing tricks on her.

"Ah, oops, forgive me," Coco said while using his hand to cover his right side of his face. "Komatsu-san, you said you were a chef at Hotel Gourmet, correct?" she didn't remember telling Coco anything about her, but she was more worried about what she just witnessed. "Can you handle a Pufferfish?" Coco asked.

She stared at his hand, covering a portion of his face, "Ah...yes, I can..." She decided not to press any further about what just happened. She wanted to get along with Coco after all.

"Puffer Fish Whales are also called _Daphina Whales_ , and as their name suggests, their size is as small as a normal Pufferfish," Coco explained. "And because of their size, there are many chefs that handle them the same way they would for a Pufferfish." Coco was still covering a part of his face while maintaining a calm composure, "and so when Puffer Fish Whales come out in the Market every ten years, about a 100,000 people die of food poisoning."

"A...100,000?" she gasped in disbelief.

"The poison in the Puffer Fish Whales is a lethal dose of 0.2 milligrams of nerve poison. It's one of the most poisonous, even in nature." Coco continued, "they have a poison sac in their body, and if it ever gets ruptured and spills its' content, not one bit of the Puffer Fish Whale can be eaten." He paused before adding in an afterthought, "well, there are people who would still try eating the contaminated Puffer Fish Whales." He finally dropped his hand, "I will tell you this, the probability of capturing them without breaking the poison sac for me is about half, meaning 1 in 2 will turn poisonous." the dark skin that was invading Coco's face started to recede away, "And the probability of me successfully removing the poison sac is 1 in 5."

"You're good enough," Toriko said, "after all, the probability of me succeeding is none! There's no way I could successfully capture and cook it." He laughed before polishing off the rest of the fried rice.

"There's some bad news," Coco's gaze sharpened at Toriko, "the beach is in the cave, and the cave is tens of kilometres long and 800 metres deep. The probability of one reaching the destination and coming back is 0.1%!"

"It's all right! Better than diving in the sea!" Toriko happily remarked.

"There's more," Coco sighed while rubbing his temple, "the beast of hell, _Devil Serpent_ , is now residing in the cave."

Toriko just laughed, "You're definitely more dangerous than some snake!"

"Toriko," Coco said sternly.

She couldn't believe the exchange back and forth between the two. One was trying to prepare and be responsible, and the other was so blase about the whole situation. She really hoped Toriko paid a little bit more mind of their success rate like Coco was trying to do.

"All right, I got it. I understand that it's pretty dangerous." Toriko held his hands up in mock defence. "But more importantly," he grinned widely, "can you see the death sign on Komatsu or me?"

She was confused, what did Toriko meant by a death sign? She looked at Coco, who seemed startled from that question. Coco looked down at his hands before crossing his arms, "I got it, I will come along."

"Yes! That's my Coco!" Toriko praised, "as expected from a Bishokuya!" Toriko then pointed at her, "the reward is to eat whatever you want in the restaurant at Hotel Gourmet, how about it?"

"E-eh!" she quickly interjected, "No way! How did my restaurant come into this conversation."

"Ah come on, don't be stingy!" Toriko whined.

"Wha-!," she looked at him in utter bafflement, "I am not!"

They both stared at each other with a serious poker face before both bursting into laughter at the same time. Both excited that they will soon taste the Puffer Fish Whale. She looked over to see Coco and her smile died down when she saw Coco's eyes downcast with knitted brows. She wondered anxiously if she was the cause of his poor mood.

"Alright, let's get a move on!" Toriko finally said. He successfully polished off all the food.

Coco sighed for the nth time, "Just as I thought I could get some rest after the meal, you decided just to go right away." He began to pick up his plates and stacked them up one by one, "You're as impatient as ever, Toriko."

"Heh, there's no time like the present, and anytime after that is the wrong time," Toriko said his trademark quote.

"There's no winning against you," Coco said, looking just as unimpressed as ever. "Alright, we'll head out once I clean these dishes."

Komatsu got to her bag and dug out a helmet with the flashlight attached to it. This will definitely come in handy if they were going to go into a cave. She saw Coco entering the kitchen with a pile of dirty dishes. She was kind of curious of having her fortune told, maybe it wouldn't hurt to ask? Plus, she can try to right whatever she did wrong! She walked into the kitchen and shyly called out to Coco. "Uhm...Coco-san?"

Coco looked back and seemed disconcerted to see her, but he quickly masked it with a poker face. "Yes, Komatsu-san?"

"I wanted to ask..." she bit her lower lip, thinking twice if she should have asked after all, but since she was already here, she might as well ask anyway. "What do you think is going to happen today according to your fortune?" she hoped Coco would say that they will all enjoy a nice meal of Puffer Fish Whales.

Silence.

She was starting to get nervous.

More silence.

She looked up and saw Coco with a dark look. She chew her lower lip feeling nervous from the unyielding silence; maybe he doesn't like telling fortunes for free? Did she offend him further by asking for his services for free?

She saw that he was about to open his mouth, and her body bowed in a 90 degrees angle, letting her anxiety get the better of her. "...S-S-Sorry!" She stuttered out, before scampering out of the kitchen.

She exited the house while holding her knapsack close to her chest. "Stupid, Stupid!" she said more to herself. She was hoping to close the distance she had caused from before, but instead, she made it even worse by running off like an idiot! She was curious about what Coco was going to say, but her heart couldn't take any further rejection. "Stupid..." she murmured, chastising her choice to run away like that. If anything, she probably offended him even more by acting like this!

"Ca-caw." Kiss crowed.

She looked back and saw Kiss resting by the side of the house, and Kiss just blinked blankly at her. She sighed before approaching the Crow cautiously, "Hey, Coco-san called you family. I-I think I annoyed Coco-san a lot and I probably ruined my reputation with him...What should I do?"

Kiss blinked once before losing interest and closed his eyes.

"Haha...yah, I thought so." She said with a defeated sigh.

Suddenly, she had a feeling that today was going to be a very long day.

* * *

 **Question Time!: Who likes Zonge?**


	6. The Puffer Fish Whale

_A/N: Welcome to chapter 6! Wow, already on chapter 6! Thank you to the people sticking around this far! ... hi mom._

 _I kid. I kid. Haha._

 _We'll wrap up the Puffer Fish Whale arc here! (translation: this is gonna be a long-ass chapter)_

 _Hopefully, this will make up for the year I was gone, LOL!_

 _Lastly, I will be following the manga for the most part. There may be scenes where I will probably (most likely) diverge and add original scenes here and there. Furthermore, this is told in Komatsu's perspective. So, unfortunately, unless she is witnessing the fight scene, I ain't gonna regurgitate that._

Special shoutout to **Konan248, raitein, merendinoemiliano, BurningRosethorn**

 _Thank you for your kind reviews!_

* * *

 **Chapter 6: The Puffer Fish Whale**

* * *

Komatsu, Toriko, and Coco took the train from Fortune Town. Again, Toriko had to wrestle against Coco's rampaging fangirls while they were waiting for the train. When the train finally arrived, Komatsu noticed how there were barely any passengers compared to this morning. Well, she wasn't complaining as she'd rather not meet a certain obnoxious _caveman_ that disrupted their peace earlier today.

The train ride was relatively placid save for Toriko's occasional munching as he ordered _another_ round of alcohol and food. In 15 minutes, they arrived at a train station nearest to the Cave Beach. It was another ten minutes hike until she saw the terrain change into a rocky, barren land. In between the crevices of the tall rocks, she felt like someone was watching her every movement. She was worried that some shady-looking people would jump out and suddenly attack them. Quickening her pace, she stuck close to Toriko.

Toriko rummaged through his pocket before pulling out a cigar and started smoking it. She wondered if he was addicted to the Cigar Trees, but then again, everything that Toriko consumed seemed like in excess to her.

They arrived at the mouth of the cave, and she could hear distant cries getting louder.

The big caveman with his two goons ran out. Toriko recognized them immediately, "Oh!" he took another puff of his cigar, "aren't you..." he paused before realization lit his eyes, "Zombie-kun!"

Zonge retorted in outrage, "Who the heck is Zombie? I told you that I'm Zonge, Bishokuya Zonge!"

"So did you find the Beach in the Cave?" Toriko chattered on completely oblivious of Zonge trying his best to get him to remember his name.

Zonge opened his mouth before closing it. He thought for a bit, then laughed obnoxiously, "It was right in front of my eyes!" he said as he pointed at his eyes. "Besides, if I just caught them, what's the fun in that?" he laughed some more, "I'm the type of guy that stops playing an RPG game when facing the last boss. Ya know?"

Somehow, she _highly_ doubted that this caveman even made ten steps into this cave.

"Hm, is that so?" Toriko asked nonchalantly. He took a long drag of his cigar before disposing of it by stomping the remaining embers of the cigar to the ground. "Alright! Let's go, Coco, Komatsu!" Toriko walked past Zonge without a second look and finally entered the cave.

"Ah...yes!" She responded, suddenly her stomach started to churn inside, telling her that this was a bad idea. She swallowed down her fear and willed her legs to move forward. "Wow... this cave is really...big," she commented lamely. Her attempt at small talk failed as Coco and Toriko continued to walk deeper into the cave.

"Take out the lights, Komatsu." Toriko ordered, "you won't be able to see anything soon because of the darkness."

"Ah, yes!" she said as she took out her helmet with the attached flashlight on top.

"Komatsu." Coco finally spoke to her; he hadn't spoken or even looked at her ever since she ran away from him. She should apologize for that since that was incredibly rude of her.

"Y-yes...?" She was half curious but half nervous as to what Coco would say to her.

"Don't ever stray too far from us, okay?" Coco said with his brow knitted together.

"Eh..." she didn't know what to expect from Coco, but she didn't expect those words from him. Somehow, she felt like she was mistaking Coco's intention. If he hated her, he wouldn't be giving her such a worried look, right? "Y-yes..." she said in a daze.

Coco gave her a small smile and nodded before walking ahead to lead the group.

As she was walking, she noticed a flash of colour in her peripheral vision. She stopped and looked closely before her eyes widen in excitement, "AH!" she yelped, "no way! Boki-boki mushrooms are growing here!" she said in delight.

"What? Seriously?" Toriko exclaimed before running to Komatsu to see. "Ohh! Look at that, fresh Boki-Boki mushrooms." He picked a handful and began to eat it right away.

She also picked a handful and ran towards Coco. "Uhm, Coco-san!" she called. "These Boki-Boki mushrooms are great in soup, but eating them fresh is delicious too!" she offered some to hopefully bridge the gap between them.

"Ah, no, thank you." Coco politely declined before walking away.

"O-oh," she laughed awkwardly, "okay..." She realized that Coco was definitely not like Toriko, and she should perhaps try a different method to form a friendship other than offering food.

They continued their journey deeper into the cave. The sunlight had already been filtered out by the darkness, and she had to rely on her small beam of light to ensure she didn't slip or fall. Coco and Toriko suddenly stopped in front of a forked path. "Ah! Which path should we take?" she asked to no one in particular.

"How is it, Toriko?" Coco asked.

Toriko began to sniff the air, "I smell dead meat from both holes, but there's a distinct smell of millipedes in the right one." He pointed to the left tunnel, "I can smell a tint of the ocean's breeze from the left." Flicking his nose with his thumb, he excitedly proclaimed, "we're going left!"

"A-amazing..." she remembered Tomu's comparison of Toriko's nose to a police dog. She closed her eyes and tried smelling the air. She wasn't surprised when all she could smell was something fetid.

They entered the left entrance, and suddenly the path started to elevate as they went in further. Her breath ran ragged as she struggled with the steep rocks she had to climb over, and it didn't help that Toriko and Coco were moving at a quick pace.

"It's quite slippery up here. Be careful of your steps, Komatsu-san." Coco called back.

"A-ah, yes!" she replied as she sighed in relief when she was finally keeping pace with Toriko while Coco was several steps ahead of them. Her light barely reached past Coco's feet, and he was traversing through a dark cave with ease. "Coco-san doesn't even have a flashlight, yet how can he move so quickly in the dark?" she wondered out loud.

"Coco has good eyes. Not his eye-sight per se, but then again, his eyesight isn't normal either," Toriko said before stuffing the final Boki-Boki mushroom in his mouth, "Coco can see beyond the visible light waves, as much as electromagnetic waves."

"...electro-huh?" she mumbled in confusion.

"For him, he has more sight cells than an average human that he can see in ultraviolet and infrared." Toriko said before pointing at his own eyes, "For Coco, this dark world might be as bright as day."

"W-wow..." she said in awe, both Toriko and Coco were definitely beyond the scope of what you would call normal. She looked at her tiny, frail hands, suddenly feeling very inadequate to be on this adventure.

She kept walking until Toriko and Coco stopped in their tracks. She couldn't see past them even with the flashlight. Could they have discovered an interesting ingredient? Curiosity and excitement getting the best of her, she started running towards them. "Is anything wrong?" she called out, and as she took one step in front of Toriko, her feet met thin air. "UWAHHH!" she screamed as gravity pulled her down.

She felt a tight grip on one of her arms, and she looked up with watery eyes to see Toriko sigh in exasperation, "What are you doing by yourself?" he asked.

She was dangling loosely with only her one arm being held up. "T-thank you very much..." she said in a strained voice as she tried to get her breathing back to normal.

 **KHREEK KHREEK KHREEK**

She heard a high pitch screeching from down below, "W-what's that sound?" She looked down, and with the aid of her flashlight, she saw hundreds of black crawling Scorpion Cockroaches. They were all screeching with their antennas pointing towards her. "UWAHHH!" she screamed in fright as she clawed Toriko's arm to get back on solid ground.

"So, this is the Toxic Cockroach's nest." Toriko's voice was a bit strained. He pulled her up with ease, and she landed on her knees and hands.

"WOAHHH!" she heard a voice scream. She looked to her left, and there was a man who fell into the nest of Scorpion Cockroaches.

"A Bishokuya?" Coco said in shock.

"No good, he fell in the nest," Toriko said, his face turning sombre.

"E-eh?" she stared at Coco and Toriko, looking down with what appears to be a sympathetic gaze. She peered down at the pit once more.

"EIIYYAAAHHH!" The man cried in fright.

Like a deer caught in headlights, she couldn't stop staring. The man pulled out his sword and swung blindly at the Cockroaches. One of the Cockroach leapt and grabbed hold of his arm.

"AAUUUGGGGHHHH! HELP! HELP!" the man begged helplessly.

She couldn't look away. She could only watch in horror as the other cockroaches swarmed and began to devour him. The man continued to scream until his scream abruptly stopped. Her body shivered. She knew that man was eaten alive by being shredded apart from these cockroaches.

"The problem is we have to go through here... Coco." Toriko sighed and seemed to be not fazed from just witnessing a man being _eaten_ alive.

"I will go down first then. Follow me." Coco said as he unwrapped the bandages from his head and his neck.

"Eh?" she looked at Coco in shock, "Please wait! What do you mean you'll go down first?" Did Coco not just see a man die in front of them? There must be a different route they could take!

Coco did not bother to answer her as he jumped right down into the pit.

"Coco-san!" she yelled in fright; she didn't want to see the same event played out like that poor man. The moment she heard a thud from Coco landing in the nest, she hid behind her hands. A few seconds passed, and she didn't hear Coco or the screeching of the cockroaches. She slowly peered down and was amazed to see all the cockroaches formed a ring around him. None of them dared to move a step closer to Coco. "Eh? Why?" her befuddlement quickly replaced her worries.

"Hmph," Toriko grinned, "these cockroaches with their highly toxic poison can also detect the danger from Coco's poison!" He grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder, "let's go, Komatsu! We're going to follow Coco!" Without so much of a warning, he jumped down the pit. Shell shocked, she couldn't even scream in fright. He landed gracefully on his feet and dropped her to the ground.

She stared around in awe as the cockroaches all formed a line to make a path for them to walk through. As she walked past the cockroaches, she saw the remains of the unknown dead man. There was only a puddle of blood and his skeleton with bits of flesh dangling. She quickly looked away lest she threw up. She gave a silent prayer to the deceased man.

They finally passed the nest of Cockroaches, and she let out a breath she held from fear.

Coco also stopped and took a deep breath in then out. His dark purple skin was slowly fading away. He wrapped his bandage around his neck and his head once more. "Sorry for scaring you, Komatsu-san. You're safe now." Coco said with a pleasant smile on his face.

"What do you mean by p-poison?" she blurted out, there were so many things that just happened, and there were millions of question racing inside her head. "W-Who are you, Coco-san?"

Toriko answered for Coco, "Coco has poison inside his body."

Upon hearing Toriko's answer, her face scrunched up as that didn't answer any of her questions.

"Most of us bishokuyas often can make _immunity_." Coco finally answered, "We can artificially create antibodies to combat against poison." he stared at her with a frigid smile. He continued with his explanation nonchalantly, "by injecting a tiny amount of poisons from poisonous snakes, insects, or plants regularly into our system over long periods, our body starts to create specific antibodies to combat it."

"I was bitten by Zombie Taipans before, remember that?" Toriko said.

She nodded hesitantly as she recalled how worried she was when Toriko wasn't taking any antidote after being bitten by five Zombie Taipans. He mentioned something about already having "it." Was he referring to his body being able to create antibodies for the snakes' venom?

"However, that being said," Toriko started, "it is said that in nature, there are more than hundreds and thousands of different kinds of poison. It's impossible to make antibodies for every single different type of poison." He pointed to his chest with his thumb, "I only have about 70 kinds." Then he pointed to Coco with the same thumb, "but the amount of antibodies Coco has is over 500! That's abnormal even in bishokuyas."

"F-five hundred?" she paled at the sheer number. She probably would drop dead as soon as she got poisoned by any type of poison!

"By chance, my body can endure more poison than most people." Coco said as his eyes glazed over, "I injected far too much poison in my body, and they began to mix with each other." He raised his hand and inspected his palm, "a new kind of poison was produced within me." He closed his hand into a tight fist and looked over to her with a wry smile, "I am now a poisonous human." Chuckling, he said, "my identity is just an undignified extremist. But there aren't many beasts that dare to attack me."

She never realized that people would forcefully inject poison into their body. She could recall the time she had food poisoning, and it was easily one of the worst moments of her life. It was painful, and she felt like she was going to die. She looked at Coco carefully masked smile and wondered how much pain he had to suffer over and over again? Why would he inject so much poison in his body?

"Now, let's go," Coco said, breaking her out of her train of thoughts. He started to walk deeper into the cave until her headlight could no longer reach him.

"Coco-san...he seemed really sad..." she murmured more to herself.

"Once, a lot of scientists and medics of IGO chased him around in order to produce the perfect serum from his blood," Toriko replied, much to her embarrassment that he heard her.

"D-did these IGO scientists and medics... were they the one who injected all sorts of poison into Coco-san?" she bravely asked.

"Yah..." Toriko's face turned sombre, "he was also about to be isolated as a first-class dangerous being."

"I-isolated?" she asked.

Toriko let out a sigh, "well, long story short, he has a lot of bad memories." he patted her shoulder, "he probably got out of the bishokuya business because he wanted to get rid of all of that." the mood turned heavy. She wasn't used to seeing Toriko with such a pained expression on his face.

"Bu-but!" she blurted out, "to have the beasts avoid you, that's the best thing I can hope for!" she laughed sheepishly, "I can go to dangerous areas as much as I want."

He chuckled softly, "I suppose that's true."

She looked to see the dark path ahead of them. She couldn't help but think if perhaps the reason why Coco was trying to avoid her was that he was worried he might hurt her with his poison. Even though he seemed cold at first, his kindness and caring nature would show through the cold facade he was trying to keep up.

They began their trek, and the path would go from steep decline to sudden incline. She looked down to see scattered bones that could be human or animal remains. She shuddered at the sight and tried to focus on Toriko, who was slightly ahead of her.

They finally stopped at a clearing, and Coco was crouching down near the edge of a hole. This time she was careful to stay put, so she doesn't accidentally fall to her death.

"It's getting quite steep," Toriko said.

"Yeah, there's a huge hole about 100 metres right below here." Coco examined.

She inched closer to Coco and stared down at the pitch-black hole. "A-are we going down there?"

"Shall we go down by scaling against the wall with the rope we have?" Toriko asked while Coco passed the rope to Toriko. "Hm, is this rope long enough?" he pondered out loud while inspecting the line. "Oy, Komatsu, you should cling to one of us," he said while impaling a metal hook into the wall.

She picked up a segment of the rope, and its' width was just barely larger than her index finger. "Ehhh? Are we really going to be okay with a rope this thin?"

"Don't underestimate these carbon fibre ropes!" Toriko said matter-of-factly, "it won't snap even if there are a hundred people on it!" he proudly stated while looping the rope around the metal hook and securing a knot.

She looked between Toriko and Coco and at first, she was going to go with Toriko, but she remembered Coco's sad smile as he shared the true nature of his body. She knew that asking Coco to carry her would be selfish of her, especially since he told her explicitly multiple times not to touch him. Perhaps he hated being touched, and she promised to the Gourmet Gods that if he rejected her this time, then she will never touch Coco again. But, when she saw Coco recalling his past, she felt a strong urge to hug Coco and tell him that he was so much more than just a poison man, a fortune teller, or whatever title people bestowed upon him.

Suddenly feeling nervous, she shuffled her feet and pinched a bit of Coco's shirt between her fingers. She was originally planning on jumping on Coco's back but thought against it since she would be no different from those fangirls back at Fortune town.

"Coco-san?" She meekly called out. He looked back at her, looking quite confused. "Can I...descend down with you?" Her heart pounded in her eardrums.

"W-wait a second, Komatsu-san..." Coco started.

She bit the inside of her cheek, anticipating the resounding rejection.

"I... have poison..." Coco said quietly, and suddenly his face broke away from a mask of indifference to his true expression. A man who had been hurt, who had been turned away, and who had been abandoned. She wondered why Coco's feelings resonated deeply with her?

She willed herself to give Coco a bright smile. "Poison?" She asked feigning innocence. "But Coco-san said that no fish lives in clear water, right?" She smiled cheekily, "people are more likeable when they have _poison_!"

Coco stared at her, and she could feel the tip of her ears tingle in heat, was that too corny?

Suddenly, Coco crouched down and invited her to climb on his back. "Then...let's go, Komatsu-san."

She looked at Coco's broad back, not quite registering that Coco was willingly letting her ride his back.

"Komatsu-san?" Coco called out for her attention.

"Ah! Yes!" She answered. Her hand touched his shoulder and realized how warm and firm he was. Her brain started to work in overdrive. She was going to get carried by Coco, one of the four Heavenly King. She began to feel nervous, but after making such an embarrassing statement, she couldn't back down now. When she leaned closer to Coco, her chest was touching his broad back. She could feel his body stiffen, and felt terrible for putting Coco in such an awkward situation. He was so different from Toriko.

She took a small breath, trying to calm her beating heart.

"Okay, hold on tight, Komatsu-san," Coco said.

"Y-yes!" she stuttered.

Coco chuckled softly, "don't worry; I won't let you fall." His voice was smooth and gentle.

Her face instantly flushed with heat. He was _very_ different from Toriko.

They began to descend slowly; she couldn't help but think if she was riding with Toriko, he would descend faster to the point where it would feel like they were free falling.

She appreciated Coco-san taking greater care for her safety. Although this may sound a bit egocentric, she hoped she could lessen Coco's loneliness, even if it was just a smidge. She realized that perhaps she understood Coco's feelings a little bit. After all, she knew how it felt to be cast away. She may not have experienced the same degree of hardship as Coco, but she knew what it felt to be lonely despite being surrounded by so many people.

Her fingers lightly touched her bare ring finger.

They descended deeper into the darkness.

Sometimes, she wondered how much happier Take-chan was now that he was no longer _chained_ to her side.

Sometimes, she wondered if she chose the wrong path. She loved cooking, and she loved Take-chan. But she couldn't have both.

What if the path of being a chef was a dead end for her? The insecurity, the fear- a flash of light cut her harrowing thoughts.

Slowly, more lights started to dance around them. As they descend deeper, they were enveloped in a warm orange glow. She reached her hands out, and the lights passed through her fingers.

"Fireflies?" She murmured.

"Ah, those are Sea Fireflies. They probably got here from the beach." Coco replied.

"Wow!" she marvelled at the soft glow illuminating the space between Coco and her. "They're really beautiful!"

"That means we are nearing the beach..." Coco trailed off.

She felt Coco's whole body tense up, "Uhm...Coco-san?"

"GYAAAGH!"

Her whole body jump, almost losing her hold of Coco's shoulder. "Wh-what was that scream just now?"

"It's the screams of the other bishokuya," Coco said. He paused and surveyed the area below them. "Toriko!" Coco yelled in a panic, "there's Swallow Tail Bats! We'll need to descend right away!"

"Ah," Toriko was munching on something, "I just caught one right now."

"GYAH! He's eating it?" She was appalled, but then again, this was Toriko they were talking about.

"Komatsu, hold on tight!" Coco ordered.

"Ah, yes!" she answered and tightened her grip. Immediately, she felt her body weightless as Coco slid down the rope. The moment they reached the ground, she got off of Coco and saw a hoard of loud chirping bats flying towards them. They looked like they were ready to eat her, just like the cockroaches!

Toriko laughed, "that's a good attitude, bats!" He put his hands together and said, "itadakimasu."

She stared speechless as Toriko slashed and cut the bats before putting them in his mouth. He even caught multiple bats in his mouth while impaling several bats with his hand like a shish kabob.

"Hmm, yummy!" Toriko munched vigourously.

"Gyahhh! He ate them all!" Komatsu gaped at Toriko's chipmunk like cheeks. The better question would be if they can even eat the bats raw. Suddenly she felt a rough hand tightly clamping her mouth. She jolted and tried to turn around but was too weak to struggle. She tried to call Toriko, but his back was turned to her. She felt her whole body dragging further away from Toriko and Coco. She tried to scream, but the bats' cries drowned her muffles.

She heard a low guttural laugh. She looked up to see a man with a shaggy beard.

"Both of them are the four Heavenly Kings, Coco and Toriko! What a group! With those two, they can probably hang on for a while." the man said.

She was scared, and his grip on her was so tight that it felt like he was crushing her jaw.

"Oy girl, I'm gonna get on the beach from another route, while you get the attention of the monsters as bait!" he snickered.

She started to cry, begging for Toriko and Coco to come and save her quickly.

Suddenly the man stopped and dropped her to the floor. She landed on her left arm painfully and felt the small rocks piercing her skin.

She looked up to see the man frantically rummaging through his bag, and pointed the gun at _something_. She couldn't see well in the darkness and searched for her flashlight as her hat fell off when he dropped her. She felt the smooth surface of her helmet and quickly turned on the flashlight. She pointed the light towards where the man was pointing his gun.

Her body froze; she wished she never turned on the flashlight.

A massive purple serpent-like beast towered over her. It had a white mane, and she could see that its' hair was writhing and moving like tentacles. Its' mouth was wide opened, and she could see the blood-red fangs ready to maul her.

"N-no way..." the man gasped in fear, "Why here too?"

Here too? She pondered at his weird wording until she realized that perhaps there was a second one where Coco and Toriko were at. She paled at the realization that they might be fighting this serpent-like creature right now. But she tried to soothe her anxiety that Toriko and Coco will beat this monster and quickly come and save her!

"DAMN BASTARD!" the man yelled as he grabbed her collar, which chocked her in the process. She felt her body go weightless until gravity pulled her down to the ground. She landed on her back, wincing in pain. She looked up to see the man running away.

"Wait!" she grunted in pain. She heard sounds of soft growling, and she pointed her flashlight around her.

Her breathing ran ragged.

Her hands were trembling.

Her legs were heavy as lead.

Beasts surrounded her with long trunks and sharp teethes covered in their saliva.

She kept praying for Toriko and Coco to save her. But she realized that they probably wouldn't come in time. She felt warm tears streaking down her cheeks, Toriko always said to write a will. It was his way of telling her that she could die at any time. What a fool that she thought she was invincible as long as she was with Toriko.

The image of the man eaten alive by the cockroaches came into mind.

She was going to die.

"GYAHH!" a man screamed.

Her shoulders stiffened; that scream sounded like it was from her kidnapper.

The beasts surrounding her were distracted as they looked around, searching for the source of the _loud scream_.

Her hands clutched her bag strap tightly.

She started to rummage through her bag.

When they had been on the train, Toriko had given her a small gift.

" _If, by any chance, you encounter wild beasts when you're alone, use this," Toriko said. He handed her what appeared to be an oversized party poppers, but it was heavier and was in a metal casing. "I call them Toriko Crackers!"_

" _A cra-cracker, you say?" She looked at the so-called Toriko Crackers and wasn't sure how this could help her from the terrifying beasts. "You mean...that thing that you pop at a birthday party and stuff?" she asked, raising an eyebrow._

" _Hey, hey! Don't make a fool out of it!" Toriko said, "if you pop these in a residential area, the firefighters and the police will come rushing in two minutes!"_

" _Eh?" Komatsu was still not convinced how this could save her from being eaten by a beast that can literally devour her in a single bite._

" _I've played with the type and amount of gun powder. This produces an explosion that doesn't even compare to a firecracker you pop at some average festival." Toriko handed her four more of his crackers, and she winced at the weight of them. "Listen, including humans, all animal fear **sound**. That means sound is a primitive phenomenon that living things are instinctively frightened by." _

She had put only one cracker due to the sheer size and weight in her bag. She had hoped that she wouldn't be using this.

She finally felt the cool metal and grabbed it out of her bag. She could hear Toriko's last words echoing in her head, that this cracker will be more useful than hunting guns.

"GWAR!" the beasts' snarled as if they were saying _itadakimasu_.

"Uhm, uhm," her hand fumbled, looking for the wire. Once she felt the corse wire, she tried to pull, but it would not budge! She pulled harder; she could feel cold sweat pouring down her back. "Come on, come on!" she desperately pulled and pulled until she felt the wire loosened.

The moment she pulled the wire out, she heard silence, and she saw nothing but white.

* * *

How many minutes has it been? Hours? Was she successful at warding away those beasts?

Or, was she being eaten by the same beasts now?

She was enveloped in darkness. She wondered if this was the afterlife. Perhaps she didn't make it after all.

"-p already!"

She heard an unfamiliar and loud voice. When she opened her eyes, she saw a different man with a scraggly beard and missing teethes. "You're second life...savour it," he said ominously.

His whole head was more prominent than her whole body. "U-uwah!" she screamed before quickly getting up and running as fast and as far as she could from this new breed of monster. "A big old geezer monster!" she cried.

"Big geezer monster!" the old man exclaimed, "I'm the one who saved your life."

She stopped dead in her track and turned around to see the disproportionate old man with a white pompadour. He looked oddly familiar. His upper body was that of a giant with skinny legs.

The last thing she remembered was that she used the Toriko's Cracker, and that was the end of her memory. She looked around to see no beasts in sight.

"Well then, look after yourself." The old man took a swig of his drink and hiccuped. "Give my regards to your companion as well." He began to leave with a big bucket filled with Puffer Fish Whales!

She was speechless and didn't know which to address first. The fact that she died and he revived her? Or the fact that he was a giant? Or maybe the fact that he was carrying a massive bucket of what appeared to be Puffer Fish Whales.

"Ah, yes." The old man stopped and looked over his shoulder. "There's some mysterious thing coming towards the Sandy Beach of the Cave. So it'd be best if you caught your Puffer Fish Whales and leave straight away."

Before she could say anything, he left without a light to guide him out of the cave. She was stunned to silence and fell back down on her butt. There was so much to unpack that she didn't know where to start.

She was sitting alone in the dark cave, and she could feel her senses heightened. She could hear various echoes of the beasts' cry, and she felt something crusty on the sides of her neck. She started picking at it thinking it was dirt, but there was this gooey texture the more she dug into it. Was it mud?

She couldn't see where her flashlight went again. She had to find it and quickly find Toriko and Coco.

"Ko-Komatsu?" a voice called.

Her ears perked up from the familiar voice, and immediately her eyes welled up in tears. She looked towards the source of the voice, "T-Toriko-san...Coco-san." her voice was barely above a whisper. She could hear footsteps approaching closer to her. When her eyes finally saw a shadow of a familiar figure, she immediately bounced up from the floor and hugged Toriko's torso.

"Komatsu!" Toriko exclaimed.

"Toriko-san! Coco-san!" Komatsu was so relieved to see them again. "I was so scared, and, and..." her brain and her mouth weren't coordinating very well. She was just spouting words as best she could.

When her mind finally calmed down, her relief was quickly replaced with annoyance. "Hang on a second, Toriko-san!" she angrily pointed at Toriko with an accusing finger.

Toriko was laughing and said, "I'm glad you're alright, Komatsu!"

"No, no, wait, what was in that cracker, Toriko-san!"

Toriko continued to laugh in a jovial manner.

"You just basically handed me a bomb, Toriko-san! It's a weapon, I tell you, a weapon! I was about to die!" She cried.

Toriko laughed some more, "I see, I see, must've been tough!"

She couldn't understand why he was just laughing at this whole situation! He should at least show some concern. She then recalled the old man's words about her second life. "I actually did die once, Toriko-san!"

Toriko snorted, "the hell that happened, you're alive."

"It's true," she said, "A big old man saved me!"

"A big old man?" Toriko repeated his voice in clear disbelief.

"Yea!" she nodded fervently.

Toriko hummed for a few seconds, and said, "well, let's go and eat some puffer whales!"

She knew that Toriko was easy going, but to be this easy-going. _This...idiot!_ She thought in frustration, so she started to punch Toriko's arm in which he continued to laugh, being unfazed by her weak punches.

"Oi, Coco!" Toriko called out, "let's get going! The Sandy Beach of the Cave is only just ahead now!"

"Toriko-san, you meanie!" she continued to punch his arm in a weak attempt to relieve her frustration at this big oaf.

Coco was trying to calm her down, and she eventually did because Toriko didn't feel anything from her punches, and she was getting tired.

"Ah, I need my flashlight." She said more to herself as she squinted her eyes to try and search for the helmet.

"Here." Coco passed her helmet.

"Thank you!" she said and turned on the light to make sure everything was still in working order.

"I'm glad you're alive, Komatsu-san." Coco softly said.

She laughed sheepishly, "honestly, it was pure luck that I'm alive right now." Her laughter died down, "if it wasn't for the old man..." she trailed on shivering at the thought of being so close to death's door.

"I'll make sure you make it out of this alive, Komatsu-san," Coco said.

"T-thank you." she said, feeling her earlier annoyance at Toriko disappearing, "I just wish Toriko-san was a bit more mindful of how scary this whole thing was for me!" she half complained and half-joked.

"Toriko may not show it, but he was worried about you," Coco said.

She clutched her helmet tightly and willed herself not to get ahead of herself. After all, he only saw her as an acquaintance at best.

"OY!" Toriko yelled, "let's go!"

"W-well, that's our cue to go, huh?" she laughed, hoping to cover her feelings of uncertainty.

"Indeed," Coco said.

They finally continued on their trek to the beach. She could see a flickering of light at the end of the dark tunnel.

They entered a spacious room, and her eyes widened at its' natural beauty. Hundreds of Sea Fireflies were fluttering around the enclosed space. She could smell the salt from the sea. Her feet were relieved from being cushioned by the soft sand after walking for hours on the rocky path. The water shimmered in gold from the light of the fireflies. She could see discarded shells and coral jutting out from the sand.

"Wow..." she breathed in amazement.

"At last, we're here!" Toriko said.

"What a beautiful place," she commented as she marvelled at the lights twinkling around them.

"Huh? It looks like there was a visitor before us." Toriko pointed at the footsteps in the sand that was leading to and from the sea.

Immediately, she thought of the old man who saved her. She recalled seeing him holding a bucket full of Puffer Fish Whales. She smiled at the memory fondly, "he probably went back." she said.

"Huh?" Toriko questioned.

"I'm sure the visitor was the old man who saved me." She looked back and saw Toriko's confused face, "he already had a bucket full of Puffer Fish Whales, and none of them turned poisonous."

"For the _knocking_ _master,_ that was probably simple." Coco finally spoke.

"I see. I see now." Toriko nodded in understanding.

Again, Komatsu was lost in their conversation.

"I thought there was a familiar smell in the air. So it was the smell of that geezer who wanted the booze on the train." Toriko said.

"Eh? _That_ funky old man with the white pompadour?" She was in disbelief; the old man could barely carry a crate of alcohol on his own!

"I did think he wasn't ordinary. But who would've thought we rode in the same train as the legendary gourmet provider, Knocking Master, Jirou." Toriko said with a smirk. "His full course is a fantasy menu that most people in the world have yet to taste it. Plus, their capture level can't be fathomed."

Her mouth gaped opened for the nth time. She met _the_ legendary Knocking Master, Jirou, and she called him an old geezer monster.

"I heard that he retired as a gourmet provider a long time ago. But he's famous for his heavy drinking."Toriko chuckled, "even in retirement; he still looks forward to the Puffer Fish Whale's fin sake once every ten years."

She still couldn't get over the fact that she called such a legendary person, an old geezer monster.

"Komatsu," Toriko called.

"Ah, yes?" She replied.

"In any case, don't forget the absolute favour that your life was saved. Take the best cuisine to the old man someday." Toriko said.

She felt her mood brightened, "Okay!" she can also apologize to the old man for calling him a monster when she does. "Then, can I count on you for the provision of the ingredients?"

"Nah!" Toriko said without missing a heartbeat, "you have to get that for yourself!" He ripped off his shirt, "now let's go capture some ourselves! The delicacy of the deep sea!" Toriko exclaimed in excitement.

She couldn't believe she got rejected so readily. But, she supposed it would mean more if she procured the ingredients herself to show thanks to the old man.

"This sea has a lot of Sea Fireflies, so it's bright enough for us to see in the water," Coco said.

"Komatsu!" Toriko said while taking off his shoes and then his socks, "you get in the sea and make sure you watch Coco's technique too! You came for that, didn't you?"

"Ah, yes!" Komatsu was getting excited; she never saw someone capture a Puffer Fish Whale successfully. She started to worry if there were also dangerous beasts in the sea considering their track record in this cave. "Uhm, there aren't any ferocious sharks and stuff...right?"

"Don't worry," Toriko said, "even if there are, they're a hundred times cuter than the Devil Serpent or that old man."

"I guess, but even if you compare them to such a..." she saw Toriko jumping into the water, cutting her worrying bout short. "...and he left." she sighed, getting used to Toriko's devil-may-care attitude.

"Come on, let's go, Komatsu-san," Coco said.

She was surprised to see Coco still waiting for her. "Ah, I'm sorry. Hold on!" she quickly took off her bag. She stripped off her shirt and her pants. She wore her tankini underneath, so she didn't have to change in front of Toriko-san awkwardly. "Sorry, for the wait, Coco-san," she said.

"It's not a problem; then I'm g-going ahead," Coco said, facing his back towards her, and jumped into the water.

She was confused as to why Coco was acting all awkward around her again. She looked down at her tankini; it wasn't like she was showing a lot of skin. She continued to inspect her bare legs and her cleavage until she suddenly felt self-conscious of her body. She realized she just took off her clothes with such ease in front of a man.

"Coco-san...is a man...after all." She muttered, feeling more and more embarrassed being in her swimsuit in front of him. Hanging out with Toriko was making her forget the social boundary between the opposite sexes.

She shook her head and willed herself to concentrate on the mission right now, which is capturing the legendary Puffer Fish Whales.

The embarrassment can come later.

She took a deep breath and dove in after Toriko and Coco.

It was hard to open her eyes; the sea was so salty! She winced in pain as her arm burned from the small cuts she got from being pushed by her kidnapper. She forced one eye open, and she could see Toriko and Coco in the distance. She tried to swim towards them, but they were so far ahead!

She tried for another twenty seconds until she ran out of breath. She quickly swam up to take a deep breath of air. She coughed a bit and tasted the salty sea.

At this point, she realized she couldn't hold her breath for more than thirty seconds. She was a casual swimmer and best. She sighed in defeat; there was no way she could match Toriko and Coco's pace. She wadded back to shore and waited for the two to come back.

She occasionally saw Toriko and Coco coming up for air, and immediately dove in again. She wasn't sure how long she waited, but she could feel her overwhelming excitement of finally seeing a Puffer Fish Whale prepared in person. She looked at her backpack, smiling sadly that her knives probably won't see any action today.

She heard a splash with a loud intake of breath. She saw Toriko and Coco surfacing up from the ocean for the nth time.

"I finally succeeded in one!" Toriko said with a wide grin plastered across his face.

"We got quite a few, Komatsu-san!" Coco called out as he waded to shore. He carried the net out of the water and carefully laid out the Puffer Fish Whales on a tarp.

This was the first time she saw a Puffer Fish Whale up close. Their eyes were still open, and she could see their gills moving. There were ten Puffer Fish Whales altogether. "Aw...Awesome!" she said, as she went on all four to carefully inspect the _deep-sea delicacy_. "Coco-san, Toriko-san! I can't believe you guys got so many!" She couldn't contain her excitement any longer. She wanted to cook the ingredients quickly!

"Ten altogether, huh?" Coco observed, "although I failed quite a bit as well."

"How pathetic to have two of the four emperors go at it for an hour and only get ten." Toriko sighed in disappointment.

She didn't understand their plight; after all, if it was her, she wouldn't have caught a single one successfully. "This is a big catch still, Toriko-san, Coco-san!"

"Well, it's too early to celebrate." Coco wiped off the water from his face, "this is the real deal from now on."

Komatsu quickly rummaged through her bag and brought out two towels. She was able to air dry while she was waiting for them to capture the Puffer Fish Whale. She handed one to Coco and Toriko. Coco thanked her and began drying off.

"This is a special ingredient that requires specific preparation, right?" she chimed in. She understood that it was beyond Toriko's and her skill to successfully prepare this fish.

"Yes. The retail market for a Puffer Fish Whale that hasn't turned poisonous is about 100 million yen, but in the case that the _poison sack_ is safely removed, the price will jump to 300 million yen. However, if it turns poisonous, the value of the fish is lost." Coco said matter-of-factly.

She gulped, "t-that's like ten lottery tickets that can each be 300 million yen or turn into just pieces of paper." Suddenly, she started to get nervous despite not being the one to cook the fish. She was sad but relieved at the same time. Sad that she wouldn't have the chance to cook such a rare ingredient, but relieved that such a heavy burden wouldn't fall on her.

"Money's got nothing to do with it," Toriko said as he wiped his lips with the back of his hand. "Coco, we leave it up to you."

Coco took out a small filleting knife and carefully placed the first Puffer Fish Whale in front of him. He stared at the Puffer Fish Whale with an intense stare, analyzing every inch of the fish in front of him. She could feel her heart pounding in anticipation. A short moment of silence and Coco remained still.

Coco let out a small breath and turned to them. With a sheepish smile, he said, "don't get mad even if I fail all ten."

Her lips twitched upward. _Eh?_ Did Coco just make a joke?

"I will get mad! Come on, Coco!" Toriko said with an animated face of panic.

"That's right, Coco-san! You can do it!" she said, hoping her encouragement could somehow boost the chance of success.

Coco scratched the back of his head, "I mean, it has been a while..."

"Foretell the probability of success!" Toriko said with anxiety written all over his face. She could tell that he wanted to eat this fish no matter what.

"Well, it's about 10%," Coco quietly said.

"Eh!" this time, it was her turn to panic. "Just one?"

"A chance of one." Coco corrected.

"EH?!" she couldn't believe it! That means they had a chance of not eating any of the Puffer Fish Whales! But then again, if she was the one preparing the fish, then the probability would be 0%.

Coco took one more deep breath and focused on the fish in front of him. His knife inched closer to the fish's gills. She needed to observe and learn as much as she can from this rare experience. The knife slid across the belly, and she heard Coco's grunt. Suddenly the silvery-white Puffer Fish Whale turned into a malicious looking purple with black splotches decorated in a pattern.

"Ah! It turned poisonous!" She could hear Toriko's whimper from missing out a chance to eat one less Puffer Fish Whale.

She looked to see Coco, who wiped the sweat from his face with the back of his hand.

"Are you okay, Coco-san?" she asked. He looked so pale and seemed to be in pain.

"Ah, yes, I'm alright. It just takes a lot of concentration to locate the poison sac." Coco said.

"They're all in a different location?" she gaped.

"Yes, and even the slightest disturbance can rupture the sac rendering the fish inedible," Coco said.

She stared at the Puffer Fish Whale, finally understanding the difficulty of cooking a special ingredient.

Coco placed the second fish, and this time he started from the fin up. She gulped, staring intensely as he slowly cut around the gills.

The fish turned poisonous again.

"Augh!" Toriko groaned in frustration. He stood up from his seat and walked towards the ocean.

She stayed still at her spot. Even though the second time was a failure, this time Coco-san cut a bit more than the first fish.

Coco took the third fish.

He started from the middle of the belly; his hands tremored. His face was pale, and he was taking in shallow breaths. She knew from traversing through this cave, protecting her, and knocking the fish; Coco was simply exhausted. He wouldn't be able to hold his knife still, which was crucial if the poison sac was delicate and easily ruptured.

As soon as Coco moved an inch, the fish turned poisonous.

 _With this, three of them in a row were failures._ Her grip tightened, there were only seven left.

"Hey!" Toriko called out, "did you remove the poison sac yet?" Toriko was sitting near the shore with his fishing rod out.

"Why are you doing something so leisurely like fishing, Toriko-san?" She said dumbfounded.

Coco chuckled, "He's had little patience since the old days. Leave it alone, Komatsu-san."

She puffed her cheeks out, "but still!" she made a weak protest before she burst into a fit of giggle. "I guess that's Toriko-san for you!"

Coco joined in with a small chuckle, his body was relaxed, and he no longer wore the tight smile he would force himself to adorn earlier on in their trip.

She hoped that Coco smiled in a carefree manner more often. It suited him better. "Hey Coco-san, I can't wait till we all try the Puffer Fish Whale," she said.

Coco nodded in agreement.

He placed the fourth fish in front of him. He took a slow breath in then out. He readied his knife, but this time, he started his incision near the eyes.

After three incisions, the fish turned poisonous.

"Can you guys cut the fin off quickly? We can enjoy a nice fin sake in the meantime!" Toriko exclaimed.

"Toriko-san, please be quiet for a bit! This take-" she looked over to Toriko, and she noticed him heating up the sake. "Wha-" she was speechless, and again, dumbfounded. "Why are you setting up the _atsukan_ already, Toriko-san!" she exclaimed.

"I'm just getting ready!" Toriko replied with a toothy smile.

She sighed, knowing Toriko is the type to go at his own pace.

Coco mirrored her sigh. He wiped the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand. She rummaged her backpack and took out a small canteen of water. "Coco-san, here."

He stared at the canteen before smiling warmly at her. "Thank you, Komatsu-san." He took a small sip and handed the canteen back to her.

"You know, we can take a small break Coco-san," she suggested. After all, cooking is an art that required 100% of mental and physical endurance. So she could only imagine how worn out Coco must be.

"Komatsu-san. Instead of me, perhaps you could handle it?" Coco said.

She blinked once. Than twice. She tapped the side of her ears to make sure there wasn't any sand in case she heard wrong.

She didn't hear wrong.

"E-eh?! Me?" she pointed to herself just in case Coco misspoke.

"My body is exhausted, and I'm sure you've noticed how unsteady my hands were. With just a millimetre of deviation, the Puffer Fish Whale can turn poisonous." Coco explained.

"B-but-" she wanted to protest, but Coco interjected.

"It's alright, Komatsu-san. You're a pro chef, right? Have confidence!" This was the first time Coco gave her such an encouraging smile, and yet it was giving her more anxiety than relief. "Just follow my instructions for the handling procedure."

She looked at the Puffer Fish Whale. She was nervous, but as a chef, wasn't this a golden opportunity?

"Is...that okay?" she asked cautiously, after all, there may be a chance that she fails in prepping the rest of their limited stock of Puffer Fish Whales.

"Of course." Coco reaffirmed.

She pushed her doubt and fear and brought forward her excitement to maximum drive. "In that case," she mustered a big smile, "I'll take on the challenge!"

"Eh?" Toriko whined while holding a now empty sake bottle, "You're leaving it to Komatsu, Coco? Is that alright?"

"Why don't you, instead of spending your free time drinking, go and try to catch one or more Puffer Fish Whales?" Coco said with a deadpanned look.

Toriko just gave them a lopsided grin and brushed off Coco's comment.

She snickered quietly as Coco was acting like a mother of a teenage son.

"Komatsu-san, here." Coco handed his filleting knife.

"Oh, no thank you! I actually brought my own cause..." she scratched her cheeks in embarrassment, "just in case."

"Spoken like a true chef, eh Komatsu?" Toriko laughed while he started to munch on some random fish he probably caught while fishing.

She brought out her knives that were carefully wrapped in cloth. She unfurled the cloth, and out of the two knives, she opted for the smaller one. She also brought out her apron and regretted not bringing her full chef's attire.

Once she was settled, she was finally in front of the Puffer Fish Whale. Her earlier anxiety melted away as she stared at the Puffer Fish Whale. She stared in awe. It was almost like a dream. Her restaurant never received such a luxurious ingredient; she wished Mary was here with her to experience this moment of supreme bliss with her.

"Komatsu-san, this one has the poison sac directly below its' bladder. You need to cut from the fin's base at the point and at three-knife widths down, make a ten-centimetre cut." Coco instructed.

"O-okay!" she replied. She was nervous, but her hands were steady. She slowly cut across the fish and stopped at what she thought was close to ten centimetres. The fish was no longer than her forearm, yet the body felt massive and heavy. This sort of sensation was similar to when she was tasked to dismantle the gigantic Andre Marlin that was at least 100x bigger than the Puffer Fish Whale.

"Next, put the knife at the gills and cut down to the bone below the chin," Coco instructed next.

She was engrossed in the _sensation_ of preparing the Puffer Fish Whale, that she could almost _feel_ what the next step was going to be.

Next, she had to slice just below the poison sac. She steadily and slowly cut across the gut before the fish turned poisonous. "Ahk!"

"That was close, Komatsu-san." Coco said, "you'll get it next time."

She took a deep breath in and a deep breath out.

There were five remaining.

* * *

She was only filleting a fish, yet she was sweating like mad. She panted heavily as she failed the ninth fish. She now understood why Coco had to take a break. The sheer concentration alone was testing all of her experience as a chef.

She was finally down to the last fish.

Her excitement died down for each fish she failed. Facing the last fish, and thinking of their disappointed face if she failed one last time scared her to no end. She looked over to see Toriko intensely staring at the last fish unmarred with any poison.

The feeling of inadequacy overwhelmed her. She wasn't _qualified_ to prep a special ingredient. The thought of whether being a chef was the right decision flashed across her mind. She looked over to the pile of _her_ failures. She was right all along. If she was the one prepping this, the chance of success was zero.

"Komatsu-san." Coco's voice cut through her whirlwind of self-deprecating thoughts.

"Ye-yes?" she gave him what she hoped was a smile, but she could feel her nose stinging from incoming tears.

"I can handle the last fish if you like," Coco said.

"E-eh?" She was crushed. Was it because Coco thought she was incapable? Did Coco foresee that she failed? "I..." she wanted to protest. She wanted to say that she could do it. After all, she was the chef in this group. But no words came out, and instead, she hung her head low in defeat.

"Komatsu-san," Coco called. She struggled to look up through her blurred vision. "I just don't want you to carry this heavy burden."

"Heavy burden...?," she repeated.

"If you failed, I know you will carry this failure deep inside your heart," Coco said quietly.

"Coco!" Toriko finally huffed, he put his large hand on top of her head and began to rock her whole body back and forth. "She's not a child. If she fails, then we all fail. Simple as that." He then gave a gentle pat on her shoulder, "right?" he grinned.

She realized that she must've shown so much anxiety in front of Coco that he felt it was necessary to _protect_ her from failure itself. Then there was Toriko, in his own way, encouraging her to take the last fish to try one last time.

She must've looked so pathetic. She was the head chef of Hotel Gourmet, and she was presented with possibly a once in a lifetime chance to prepare a Puffer Fish Whale. If she failed, it just meant her skills weren't up to par yet. But that didn't mean her growth should stop there, right?

She was a chef. She knew all too well what failure felt like. But that never stopped her from wanting, growing, and yearning for more experiences in this golden gourmet age!

"Coco-san, Toriko-san, thank you." She smiled, this time an earnest one. "Could you let me handle the last fish?"

Coco smiled, "of course," he nodded.

"If I did it, I would definitely fail!" Toriko laughed.

Toriko and Coco risked their life to get them to this point. Now it was her turn to give everything she got!

"I'm ready," she said, with her knife steady and her gaze unyielding at the great Puffer Fish Whale before her.

"The poison sac is located near the heart. Start at the gills and cut to the chin." Coco instructed.

Her mind was clear. The only thing in her mind was calculating the breadth, the width, and the length of her cuts. Coco's instructions were so precise that she started to see faint lines on where to cut next.

"Good. From there, remove the area from the sickle shape around the gills. If you clear off the abdomen to the fin, you just need to peel it back gently." Coco said.

She slowly followed each step. The Puffer Fish Whale's belly opened, and she could see the poison sac infused with the fish's flesh.

She let out a small breath and wiped the sweat from her chin with the back of her hand.

This was her third time successfully seeing the poison sac. "This...is it." she placed her knife down gently.

"Now, the poison sac has to be taken out slowly while being rotated," Coco said.

She nodded.

One more breath, until she plunged into the Puffer Fish Whale's belly.

"Towards this side, remove the mucous membrane so you can gently scoop it up."

Her hands could feel the slickness of the poison sac.

"Put the poison sac in the palm of one hand, and with your other hand, remove the mucous membrane with care."

 _Slowly. Slowly._ She chanted in her mind. _Gently. Gently._

She paid little mind to how slow she was being; all that mattered was removing the poison sac without rupturing it.

She slowly pulled the last web of the mucous membrane.

She halted her breath. Fearing that the fish would turn purple, signifying her failure.

"You did it, Komatsu-san!" Coco exclaimed.

Right before her eyes, the fish changed from silver to a radiant gold.

"AWWWW YEAAA!" Toriko cheered.

Her eyes overflowed with tears. "I'm so" _hic_ "glad! The last one," _hic, "_ was a success!" she cried out loud.

"Komatsu!" Toriko's voice boomed. He grabbed her shoulders, and she looked up to see Toriko's deadpanned face. "For the first time, I think it was good that I brought you along."

"Thank you," she said, then thought for a few seconds before she realized that was a pretty rude statement. "Wha-hey! What's that supposed to mean!"

Toriko laughed and patted her back, "OKAY, let's have a food sampling right now! Komatsu, make the Puffer Fish Whale's body thin, please!"

Seriously, this man works at his own pace. "Alright, coming right up!" she said; after all, as a chef, her job wasn't done until she saw her customer's satisfied face. She carefully placed the poison sac out of everyone's way. "I wonder if I should just leave this here?" she mumbled to herself.

"That's alright. After an hour, the poison will decompose and will be harmless." Coco said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, that's a relief." she sighed.

"Guys!" Toriko called, "I'm gonna make the fin sake right now!"

"Okay!" she called back as she took her larger knife and began to slice the fish as she would for any other fish when making sashimi.

Using a leaf as a plate, she placed the sashimi into the shape of a flower. Her stomach rumbled in response. She couldn't wait to try this!

"Komatsu! How's it going over there?" Toriko asked.

"I'm just about done, Toriko-san!" she replied.

Toriko walked over and marvelled at her plating, "Woah! That looks good!" He poured three cups of fin sake and raised the cup for a toast. Coco and her joined in with his toast. "Celebrating the capture of the Puffer Fish Whale!"

"Cheers!" they said in unison.

She took a sip of the warm sake, and instantly her body tingled from how smooth the sake went down. The dry sake went well with the savoury note from the broiled fin.

She looked over to Coco and saw that he was abstaining from drinking the rest of his cup. "Coco-san, are you not going to drink the fin sake?"

Coco smiled shyly, "I'm actually not a fan of sake. Plus, if I get drunk, I lose control of my poison."

"Oh, I see." she said, "I actually have a pretty weak tolerance to alcohol too."

"Now, let's have the Puffer Fish Whale sashimi!" Toriko proclaimed loudly.

She looked down and saw Toriko picking up over ten pieces of sashimi at once. "Ah, Toriko-san!" she whined, "you took a little too much! I worked really hard to make this look beautiful!"

Toriko was too enamoured with the Puffer Fish Whale to listen. She could see him salivating as he appreciated the fish in his own way.

"Itadakimasu!" Toriko said and put several sashimi pieces in his mouth.

Joining suit, she also quietly said _itadakimasu_ before eating a piece of sashimi. The moment the sashimi touched her tongue, her body melted in pleasure. She could taste the fat coating her mouth. The taste reminded her of the savouriness of fresh raw tuna, but the texture was firm, and the consistency didn't go away after several chews. It felt like she was in the depths of the sea; she couldn't see the end of the deliciousness!

"Komatsu! How is it?" Toriko asked.

She felt her eyes water, "It's so delicious, Toriko-san! It's the first time I've had this kind of sashimi!" she said.

Toriko gave her a bright smile, "I'm glad. We did our best and captured it ourselves."

She nodded in agreement.

"And..." Toriko continued, "with your utmost effort, your handling of the ingredient was, as I thought, the best!"

She felt her face flushed with heat. "Th-th-thank you," she murmured.

"And of course, we give our earnest gratitude to the Puffer Fish Whales!" Toriko said without missing a single beat.

At that comment, she looked back at the pile of poisoned Puffer Fish Whales and the plate of Puffer Fish Whale sashimi. She agreed with Toriko. She was grateful for the ingredient and thanked the Puffer Fish Whale for being alive, and for giving her this unforgettable experience.

 _Splash_.

"Hm?" She looked up to the waters and saw something emerging from the sea. It had a bird-like face, and save for its' hands and feet; it was covered in some sort of long black fur. Its' hands and feet gave a metallic shine, and the hand reminded her more like a human hand and the feet liken to that of a bird.

"What's that?" Toriko asked to no one in particular.

The bird-like monster looked at them, and she could see Toriko's muscle tense. "Komatsu! Get away!" Toriko yelled.

She was startled at how desperate Toriko's voice sounded. She didn't understand the danger of that bird-like creature. It didn't seem at all interested in attacking them. She observed the bird-like creature without budging.

"I said, get away!" Toriko yelled for the second time.

This time, she took a couple of steps backwards. She looked to Coco for answers, but his back was to her,

Toriko got into his fighting stance, and suddenly she felt a blast of wind.

"Uwah!" she yelped as her body was pushed back several more steps before she fell on her butt. She looked at the bird-like creature scratching its' head before walking past the group and exited the beach peacefully.

A moment of silence until Coco fell to his knees.

"Wha...what was that just now, Coco?" Toriko asked in a grave tone.

"I don't know. I first saw the electromagnetic waves..." Coco replied.

She kept her mouth shut. She wasn't sure what just happened, but she trusted their instinct when it came to the subject of dangerous beasts.

Coco slowly stood up and walked over to one of its' footprints made in the sand.

"That guy's footprints weren't there when we got here..." Toriko's muscles tensed. "In other words, it came from the sea. It passed through the 1000 metre deep sea. There's a living thing like that?"

"It's not a living thing," Coco softly said.

"Huh?" Toriko looked back at Coco.

Coco's eyebrows furrowed, "that guy just now was not a living creature," Coco said.

She looked between Toriko and Coco. Toriko never looked this serious even when facing the Galala Crocodile or the Troll Kongs. The bird-like creature was certainly less scary than her previous encounter with other beasts.

There was a moment of silence before Toriko turned to her and gave her what seemed to be a half-hearted smile.

"We should pack up and get ready to head home, Komatsu," Toriko said.

She nodded slowly, not pressing further about the mysterious _thing_ that appeared out of the waters. rye

* * *

Exiting the cave was just as hard as entering the cave. At one point, she collapsed on her knees, panting heavily. She wasn't even sure what time it was.

"Should we take a break here? It should already be nightfall by now." Coco said.

"Eh? We should be close to the surface," Toriko whined.

"If it was just the two of us, we can probably make it out in another five hours. But Komatsu can't keep up with our pace." Coco pointed.

Feeling ashamed, she willed herself to get back up. Her feet screamed, her knees cried, and her vision blurred. "S-sorry. I can still go on." She panted heavily, and she could feel sweat rolling down from the sides of her face.

Coco shook his head, "you shouldn't push yourself. You don't have the same stamina as Toriko and I."

She took a step forward towards Coco, and forced a smile, "I can keep going. I just lost my footing," she didn't want to stay in this cave any longer than she had to, and she felt terrible for being the reason why they were making slow progress.

She took another step to make a point, but her knees gave in again.

"Ahk!" she yelped.

Coco swooped in and steadied her body. She leaned against Coco and willed her legs to move. Instead, her legs shot short bursts of pain and numbness.

She couldn't move.

Coco slowly lowered her down, "you shouldn't push yourself, Komatsu-san. We're in no rush to leave. I'll put some of my poison around the parameter to ward away any beasts."

"I'm sorry." she looked down at her now limp legs, ashamed for being the _weakest_ link.

She felt a light pat on her head. She looked up and saw Coco giving her a warm smile, "you did a good job today. So you should treat your body with some rest."

She nodded, speechless. The more she spent time with Coco, the more she realized how nurturing Coco was. It was almost as if the Coco from when she first met him was an imposter!

 _CRACK_.

Toriko made a small fire.

"Alright, I guess it can't be helped," Toriko said. "Let's get some good night rest!"

She inched a bit closer to feel the warmth of the flame. She was thankful that Toriko was quick to accommodate her for her weak stamina.

"Oh, Komatsu!" Toriko said, "You have to try the Devil Serpent's meat!"

"Y-you mean the giant purple snake?" she shivered remembering its' blood-red fangs.

"Yea!" Toriko nodded. He stood up and sniffed the air. "The meat shouldn't be too far away from here. I'll quickly grab some!" Toriko reached his hand towards her. "Let me borrow your helmet real quick."

She took off the helmet and handed it to Toriko. "Please be careful, Toriko-san! There should be another one of those snakes lurking by."

"If there's another one, we can just take it down!" Toriko said with ease. He adjusted the helmet on his head and sprinted towards the meat.

Coco sighed, "that guy, what a glutton."

"I am kind of getting hungry tho," she laughed, feeling embarrassed.

"I suppose, it is well past dinner time," Coco replied.

They sat comfortably in silence enjoying the sound of the fire crackling.

"Uhm, Coco-san?" her hands fidgeted with one another.

"Mhm?" Coco hummed in response.

"Today... thank you. For everything," she said. "For coming on this adventure with us, for giving me a chance to prep the Puffer Fish Whale, for protecting me, for...everything. Thank you!" she gave an awkward bow while sitting down.

"I forgot what it felt like to be a bishokuya. To go on an adventure simply for the pleasure of eating good food," Coco replied. She looked up and saw him smiling, "I'm glad I went on this adventure, Komatsu-san."

Her heart feeling warm and giddy, she smiled shyly and looked back down to her legs. "Do you think..." she started, hesitating to finish her sentence.

"Yes," Coco answered. "I think our paths will cross many time. I'm sure this won't be our last adventure together."

She felt her lips stretching to a wide grin, "is that what you foresee?"

"Yes."

* * *

 **Question time!: Do you guys like sashimi?**


End file.
